Maybe In Another Life
by not-so-average-fangirl
Summary: Moving into a new house turns out to be a better experience for Chloe Beale than she thought it would. Perhaps it's because of the friendly, little brunette she finds hiding in the basement one night. An unforeseen friendship sparks between them, but as more complicated emotions begin to arise, a shocking truth is revealed, and Chloe's world gets turned upside down. (Bechloe AU)
1. Who The Hell Are You!

**Author's 1st Note: Hello fellow** **Bechloe lovers!**

 **I can't tell you enough how thankful I am to have all of you guys read and follow my work. It really means a lot to me and makes all of the time and effort I put into these stories worth it.**

 **This is my newest Bechloe fic. I wanted to try something a little different with this one. Since most of my stories are written from Beca's POV, I decided that this time I would give Chloe a voice and write the entire story from her POV. I'm finding it to be a nice change.**

 **This story is also kind of like another High School AU, but really only in the sense that the characters are in high school. This story will have a different kind of twist to it compared to my last high school fic.**

 **So, without further adieu, I give you: _"Maybe In Another Life"_**

 **Enjoy! :D**

* * *

"Chloe! Come on, sweetie. We gotta go!"

The young redhead knew her mother was calling for her from downstairs, but she couldn't leave. Not yet. She needed a few more minutes to remember her room; the way it looked, the way it smelled. But most importantly, Chloe needed to remember the way it had been her escape for the last twelve years.

She was standing at her bedroom doorframe, mindlessly staring at the empty space in front of her as she reminisced on the "good old days." She was so lost in her thoughts, that she hadn't heard her older brother, Chad, coming up the stairs, and she jumped when he tapped her shoulder.

"Hey." He said. "What are you doing? It's time for us to leave."

Chloe was pretty close to her brother. They were only a year apart in age, and despite a few minor disagreements every so often, they actually got along pretty well. He was always there for her whenever she needed him, and he had been her biggest supporter when she came out as a bisexual in the eighth grade.

Overall, Chad was more than just her older brother. He was her best friend.

Chloe looked at him with sad eyes. "Aren't you going to miss this place?"

He stuck his hands in his pockets, glanced around the empty room, and shrugged. "I mean yeah, I guess. But come on–" He nudged her arm. "Aren't you at least a _little_ bit excited that our new place is gonna be bigger and a hell of a lot nicer than this one?"

This was true. Chloe's parents had opened their own real estate agency a year prior and in a short amount of time, it had grown to be very successful. Affording a larger home had always been a dream of their's, and her parents were beyond ecstatic that it was finally coming true.

But Chloe sighed. "I guess." And she turned to face her brother. "But what about school? Aren't you going to miss your friends? Aren't you going to miss Lacey?"

Chad's demeanor fell a bit at the mention of his ex-girlfriend's name and he looked away. "Lacey and I... broke up."

"Oh..." Chloe said, unaware of this new information. "Sorry about that."

Chad shrugged it off. "Eh, it's whatever. She wasn't the "serious relationship" type of girl anyway. It's probably for the best."

Chloe wasn't sure what to say, but before she could think of anything, their mother was calling for them again.

"Chad! What are you guys doing up there? Let's go!"

Chad widened his eyes. "We better get down there before she kills us both."

Chloe knew he was trying to be funny, trying to lighten the mood in any way possible, just to cheer her up, but Chloe still didn't smile.

"Yeah, okay." She gazed at her empty room one last time, took a deep breath, and then finally let it go. "I'm ready."

* * *

The new neighborhood was nice. Nicer than their previous one had been and the house was as big as Chloe's parents said it would be.

It was a two story home, with a basement and attic. It was painted white, which went well with the blue shudders that surrounded it, and there was a prim path of granite stones leading up to the large porch.

Chloe laughed as she looked at it, realizing it looked like the typical suburban house you would see in a classic movie. She huffed a strand of red hair out of her face just as a hand grabbed ahold of her shoulder.

"Isn't it beautiful, honey?" And although Chloe was still bummed about leaving her old life behind, she couldn't exactly disagree with her mother. Because, yeah. It was.

Chloe nodded. "Yeah, mom. It's nice."

Claire could sense the lack of excitement in her daughter's voice. "Oh, sweetie." She turned her daughter around to look at her. "I'm sure you'll grow to love this place." Chloe's weary expression didn't change, so the older woman tried again. "And who knows? Maybe you'll meet someone _special_ out here." She winked, but Chloe only quirked a dubious brow at her.

"Yeah." She snickered, doubtfully. "We'll see about that."

* * *

Moving the boxes and furniture out of the Uhaul trucks was tiring work, but between the four of them, the Beales were able to get everything out in just three and a half hours.

It took them about another three hours to get all of the bedroom furniture upstairs and set up enough so they could all get a good night's rest, and by seven o'clock, the family had taken a break and ordered a pizza.

They sat down at their dining room table– which was temporarily located in the living room– and enjoyed their dinner together, many scattered boxes still randomly stacked around them as they ate.

The meal had been quiet for the most part, but then Chloe's dad cleared his throat and broke the awkward silence.

"So what do you kids think of the new house?" His smile was hopeful and expectant, and Chad was quick to give his honest opinion.

"I like it." He said, glancing over at Chloe. She was keeping her eyes fixated on the slice of pizza in front of her and he kicked her under the table to grab her attention.

"Oh!" Chloe yelped, straightening herself out from her previously slouched position and plastered a fake smile across her face. "Yeah, dad. It's– It's great."

The older man smiled satisfactorily, while Chloe rubbed her shin under the table and she shot Chad an ominous glare.

* * *

After dinner, Chloe was asked to throw the empty pizza box into the recycling trash bin. It was located outside, along the driveway, and when she went out there to fulfill the request, Chloe hadn't noticed the blonde that was approaching her until she was already tossing the cardboard box into the blue container.

"Hi."

Chloe almost jumped at the voice, but smiled when she saw the girl's friendly face. "Oh, hello."

The blonde extended her hand. "I'm Aubrey." She said. "What's your name?"

She seemed like a pretty straight forward person, which was gripping, but Chloe responded with her name and shook the girl's hand.

"Oh, that's cute. Welcome to the neighborhood, Chloe."

The redhead smiled. This girl seemed nice, too. "Thanks."

"So do you have any siblings? Pets? Or is it just you and your parents?"

Chloe chuckled at her blunt curiosity. "No pets, but I do have an older brother. His name is Chad."

"Cool." Aubrey said, not hesitating to continue her interest. "What grade are you guys in?"

Chloe wasn't used to strangers asking her twenty questions right off the bat, but Aubrey seemed like a nice girl, and after all, if Chloe could make at least **one** friend before she attended her new school on Monday, then that would be great.

"I'm a junior this year and my brother's a senior."

Aubrey's face lit up. "No way! I'm a junior too! Maybe we'll have some classes together."

Chloe smiled, brightly. "Yeah, totes. That would be awesome."

"Okay." Aubrey started, straightening herself up. "Well I have to get going, but I wanted to make sure I introduced myself." She started to walk backwards and gestured a thumb over her shoulder towards the house that was right next to Chloe's. "If you want to hangout this weekend, let me know." She smiled again. "We're neighbors."

Chloe grinned. "Okay, sure." And waved her goodbye. "It was nice meeting you!"

* * *

After officially meeting her new neighbor, Chloe made her way upstairs to her new room and scanned the foreign territory. It was larger than her previous one had been and what Chloe could appreciate the most was that it came with a walk-in closet. Chloe loved shopping, almost as much as she loved singing, and she couldn't wait to fill up the new space with brand new clothes.

Chloe smirked as she looked around the open space. "Hmm..." She hummed to herself. "Maybe this won't be so bad after all."

She walked over to her backpack and removed the portable speaker she had stored inside of it. Chloe could never get any work done around the house without _some_ kind of music playing in the background.

She selected her favorite playlist and rose the volume up all the way up. Thanks to the extra square footage in the new house, Chloe could blast her music all she wanted and her family wouldn't hear it as loudly as they would have in their old house. She didn't have to worry about being told to turn it down.

Which, okay, was pretty freakin' cool.

* * *

Chloe had spent two hours unpacking and organizing her belongings. At one point she called Chad to help her rebuild her desk, but other than that, Chloe managed to get half of her room done all by herself.

It was an interesting experience, setting up her new room. Chloe felt like there was already some kind of freedom and independence there. She couldn't pin point exactly what is was that made her feel this way. She thought that maybe it was because her new room was located further down the hallway, away from her parent's and brother's bedrooms, instead of being right next to them like it had been at her old house.

Whatever it was, Chloe was enjoying it. It made her think that maybe this move was going to turn out a lot better than she thought it would.

* * *

Chloe was still carelessly singing and dancing around to her music as she color coordinated her new closet, when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in!" Chloe shouted, smiling when her brother came into view. "Oh, hey." He didn't say anything at first and instead simply grinned at her. Chloe cocked a curious brow at him. "What?" She asked.

"I knew you were going to like this place."

Chloe's face fell and she playfully narrowed her eyes at him. "Who says I like this place?"

Chad barked a laugh. "Ha!" And used a finger to twirl around in Chloe's direction. "Your horrible singing and clumsy dance moves are a dead giveaway."

The gasp that escaped Chloe was dramatic and she punched her brother in the arm. "Excuse me!? I sing beautifully and you know it!"

A low chuckle rumbled from Chad's chest. "Alright, alright." He said, rubbing the now sore spot on his arm. "You got me there."

"That's what I thought." Chloe grinned, crossing her arms and nodding her head triumphantly.

"Chloe!"

The redhead couldn't hear her mother from where she was standing in her closet, but Chad could.

"Hey, turn down your music." He said. "I think mom's calling you."

Chloe quickly ran over to her desk and lowered the speaker volume. "Yeah, mom?" She asked, poking her head out of her room to find her mother standing at the other end of the hallway.

"Can you put everyone's bedsheets to wash, please? I want all of us to have fresh sheets before we sleep in them tonight."

Chloe looked back at her brother and stuck out her tongue in annoyance as she rolled her eyes. It made Chad laugh. "Okay!" She said, smiling back at her mother.

"Thank you, sweetie!"

Chloe turned back into her room and put a hand on her waist. "How come she didn't ask _you_ to do it?"

Chad shrugged. "I'm her favorite. Accept it."

"Pfft..." Chloe tittered. "As if."

"Oh, and Chad!" Claire was hollering again. "Could you please help your father organize all the tools in the garage? Thanks, love!"

Chad's shoulders instantly fell and Chloe smirked at him. He already **knew** what she was going to say, so he beat her to it. "Don't." He said, and Chloe couldn't help but laugh as he drawled out of her room in defeat.

* * *

It had already gotten dark outside by the time Chloe collected all of the bedsheets and made her way downstairs. She struggled to open the basement door, her arms filled with the different colored fabrics, but when she finally got it open, she furrowed her brow in confusion.

The light was already on.

"Um... Mom?" She called out, her mother nearby, working in the kitchen.

"Yeah, honey?"

"Did you leave the basement light on?"

There was a moment of silence as Claire thought about it. "Mmm, nope." She said. "Maybe one of the boys did."

Chloe stared at the bottom of the basement, apprehensively. If she were being completely honest with herself, Chloe had to admit that she was kind of scared to go down there. The basement was giving off an eerie vibe that made her uncomfortable.

But then again, when Chloe thought about it, basements were supposed to make you feel that way, weren't they? That was normal, wasn't it?

With a shimmy of her shoulders and a quick deep breath, Chloe sucked up her nerves and took the first step down the rickety staircase.

Her pointless fear started to fade away with every continuous step she took, and when Chloe reached the bottom, she peeked around and took in the parts of the basement she could see from where she was standing.

It wasn't as bad as it seemed. Sure it was old, and smelly– paint chipping off of the walls and a few spider webs here and there– but there really wasn't anything to be afraid of.

Chloe laughed at herself. "Really, Chloe? How old are you, nine?" With a shake of her head, Chloe made her way around the right side of the stairs, noticing a large, but faint stain on the cement ground as she walked.

She started to aimlessly sing "Titanium," by David Guetta, to herself as she reached the washer and dryer and detangled the individual sheets from the large bundle she had originally brought down.

One by one, Chloe tossed them into the washer, gaining volume in her voice the more she got into the song. When she finished loading it up, Chloe poured the detergent and fabric softener into their proper dispensers and turned the dials to the correct settings before pressing the "start" button.

"Wow..."

Chloe immediately stopped singing and froze in place when an unfamiliar, and certainly unexpected, voice suddenly came from her right side. She willed herself to turn and look in that direction and she screamed when she saw a young, brunette girl quietly watching her from a shadowy corner on the other side.

"What the fuck!" Chloe cried, and to her surprise, the brunette screamed too, looking equally as terrified as she did. Chloe's breathing increased in panic and she quickly shuffled backwards until she was pressed up against the closest wall. "Who the hell are you?!"

* * *

 **Author's 2nd Note: Well that's something you don't typically find in your basement! xD**

 **Follow me on Tumblr at "not-so-average-fangirl" for sneak peeks and other work.**

 **Stay tuned for more!**


	2. Something About Her

**Author's 1st Note: Glad to have received such a positive response to this new story!**

 **Hope you guys enjoy the new chapter! :)**

* * *

"Wait..." The strange girl said, slowly stepping out of the dark corner. "You can see me?"

The light gave Chloe a better look at her. She was wearing a brown hoodie with dark jeans and worn out black converse. Chloe could see that her eyes were wide with fear and worry, but also that they were a unique shade of blue. They were deep and dark, cobalt like. And despite the terrified look on her face, the girl was actually kind of... cute.

 _Wait,_ ** _cute_** _?_ What the hell was Chloe thinking?! This girl just broke into her house!

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked, confused, her chest still rising and falling with short, nervous breaths. "Of course I can see you! The corner isn't _that_ dark."

Claire had heard her daughter's scream from the kitchen and she started walking towards the basement door. "Chloe?" She hollered. "What's wrong?"

Chloe was still pressed up against the wall and glanced at the brunette on the other side of the room. The girl was shaking her head and pressing a finger to her lips, her dark blue eyes begging for Chloe to stay quiet.

Claire's footsteps were getting closer and Chloe's gaze darted back and forth between the brunette and the door.

And it was strange.

The logical part of Chloe's brain was telling her to scream, run up the stairs and call the cops on the tiny home invader. But the other side of Chloe's brain– the sympathetic, curious and completely insane part– was telling her to wait and hear the girl out.

The brunette did seem harmless, after all. Like a normal teenaged girl... who just happened to be hiding in her basement. She didn't look like a serial killer or a burglar. A burglar wouldn't have pretty hair or eyes that gleamed in the dark.

Okay... Chloe _seriously_ needed to get a grip.

Claire opened the basement door. "Chloe? You alright down there? I heard you scream."

Chloe eyed the brunette again. She was still on the other side of the room, but she seemed closer than before. Her brow was curved and she continued to plead with Chloe for her silence.

"Y-Yeah, mom!" Chloe said, gallantly choosing to give the brunette a chance. "I'm fine."

The other girl relaxed at her answer and Chloe cautiously stepped forward to reach the bottom of the stairs. She looked up at her mother and smiled sheepishly at her.

"Why'd you scream?" Claire asked.

"O-Oh, I, um–" Chloe cleared her throat and looked at the other girl. "I thought I saw a spider."

Claire laughed. "My goodness, you scared me!" And then she turned to leave. "Be careful down there." With one last chuckle, Chloe's mom closed the basement door and left her alone with the cute– sorry, _female_ intruder.

Neither of them spoke for what felt like forever. Chloe wasn't exactly sure **what** to say, so she just gawked at her. Luckily the other girl was able to break the silence and finally spoke up.

"Thank you." She said, her previously tense demeanor softening.

Chloe could feel her body relaxing too. "You're welcome." She hesitated on her next question, but eventually gained enough confidence to ask. "So, uh... Who are you and why are you in my basement?"

The girl's eyes widened again. "Oh, right, uh... My name's–" She stuck out her hand but quickly retreated it back. "Sorry."

"Your name is, Sorry"? Chloe teased.

Wait... was she seriously already **_flirting_** with this stranger?

The girl breathed a short laugh. "No, that's not my name." She smiled softly. "You can call me, Beca."

"Beca..." Chloe repeated, more so to herself as she slowly nodded.

"Yup." Beca's voice sounded like it was getting nervous again. "So..." She started, actively shifting the weight on her feet. "Your name's, Chloe?"

Chloe ignored the way the pit of her stomach fluttered when the corner of Beca's lips curved as she said her name, and the redhead simply hummed her response. "Mhm."

"Pretty." Chloe could feel an involuntary blush burn across her cheeks and Beca must have seen it, because panic suddenly washed over her face again and she was quick to clarify. "I mean your name. Not you." Chloe furrowed her brow at that and Beca's eyes widened even more. "I mean– sorry! You're pretty too. I just–" Chloe giggled at her incessant rambling, and Beca sighed as she dropped her head in defeat. "...I just really like your name." She mumbled.

She couldn't see the way Chloe was smiling at her in amusement, and the redhead wanted to reassure her that what she had said was perfectly fine with her.

"Thank you." Chloe grinned, but Beca kept her head down. "I think your name is pretty too."

The additional comment seemed to have done the trick in gaining her attention back, and Chloe was happy to see Beca lift her head back up with a small smile returning to her face.

"Yeah?" She asked, and Chloe nodded.

"Yeah."

Despite the good vibes Chloe was getting from this Beca girl, she still couldn't ignore the fact that she was still very much a stranger who definitely did **not** belong in her basement. She needed a little more information

Chloe cleared her throat. "So, Beca." The brunette nodded. "What exactly were you doing hiding in my basement?"

"Oh..." Beca breathed. "Yeah, about that. I, um... I'm–" She chewed on her lower lip for a moment before shaking her head. "I'm sorry for scaring you earlier. I used to hang out here a lot after the previous owners moved out." She explained. "It's been vacant for like, over a year."

Chloe furrowed her brow. "Why?"

"I don't know." Beca shrugged. "I guess nobody wanted this place until you–"

"No, I mean, why do you hangout here?" Chloe snickered and glanced around the room. "I mean, it's not the _nicest_ place in the world."

Beca looked around too. "It's not so bad." She said. "Plus, if I'm being honest, I kind of like the quiet."

"Got a lot of brothers and sisters back home?" Chloe asked, and Beca smiled softly at her.

"No, actually." She said. "I don't have any siblings. It was–" She paused. "It's just me and my foster parents, and they're not always... the nicest."

"Oh..." Chloe wasn't expecting the conversation to get so personal so quickly. _Especially_ with a complete stranger. Was everyone in this neighborhood profound and open about their personal lives? "Sorry to hear that."

"It's alright." Beca said, and by the tone of her voice, Chloe could tell she was trying to be positive about it. "It is what it is."

Chloe felt bad for this girl, and _once again_ , instead of following her cautious instincts– which were telling her to get rid of this girl and convince her parents to change the locks ASAP– Chloe decided that the pleasant tingling feeling swirling through her veins was a better judgment of character.

"Um, well..." Chloe started, worrying the corner of her bottom lip before continuing. "I've gotta go back upstairs, but, uh... If you–" _What are you thinking?!_ "If you still wanna escape the noise from home, then, you can keep coming back down here to hangout... if you want."

Beca looked at her, surprised, and the adorable sight made Chloe smile.

"Just be careful when any of my other family members are around." Chloe narrowed her eyes then, a thought crossing her mind. "Hang on. How did you even get in here?"

Beca straightened up. "Oh, I, uh–"

"You know what? It's fine." Chloe said, raising a hand up to stop Beca from explaining any further. She scrunched her nose. "I don't wanna know."

"Oh… Okay." Beca still looked like she had been taken off guard, but then a friendly smile curved on her lips. "Thanks." She said. "I, uh, I appreciate that."

Chloe grinned. "You're welcome." She took a step up the stairs. "I'll probably be doing laundry again soon, so I guess I'll see you around?" This had to be the weirdest situation Chloe had ever been in. And yet, she kind of liked it.

Beca laughed. "Yeah, I guess so." She slipped her hands into her jean pockets and it was the most relaxed Chloe had ever seen her– well, so far. "I'll try not to be too much of a creeper next time."

And now it was Chloe's turn to laugh. "Sounds good." She took another step and looked down at Beca one more time. "Have a goodnight."

"Thanks." Beca smiled. "You too."

Chloe stood there, stealing a few more selfish moments to look at Beca, before giving her a quick nod and finally heading back up the stairs.

Chloe stopped when she reached the light switch.

 _That's why the light had been on!_

Chloe snickered to herself as the mystery solved itself. She wasn't sure how much longer Beca was going to stick around, so she decided to leave the light on.

Chloe stepped out from the basement door and jumped when a hand suddenly touched her shoulder.

"Ah!" Chloe screamed, relaxing when she spun around and found her mother staring at her, curiously.

"Are you alright? What took you so long?"

Chloe opened her mouth and leaned back against the door to close it.

"I, um–" She had to think of something quick. "Was... Just looking around to make sure there weren't any other creepy crawlers around me." She smiled nervously and Claire chuckled.

"Oh, sweetie." She wrapped a comforting arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "It's a basement. You're bound to find some things down there that you weren't expecting to find."

 _If only she knew._

"Yeah." Chloe said, looking back at the door, knowingly. "I'll say."

* * *

When Chloe returned to the basement forty minutes later to put the load of sheets to dry, she felt disappointed when she found that Beca was no longer there.

* * *

Saturday came and went like a blink of an eye. Busy with unpacking and organizing, Chloe had almost forgotten about the strange girl she had met in the basement the night before. It wasn't until she passed the basement door on the way to the kitchen, that the image of Beca's face flashed in her mind.

Had their conversation really happened? Or was Beca just a memory from some weird dream Chloe had? She couldn't be sure, but she shook the thought away and continued on her merry way.

* * *

When Sunday evening came around, Chloe's curiosity had driven her close to insanity.

She **had** to make sure.

Chloe didn't have any clothes that _needed_ to be washed, but with the possibility of running into Beca again, Chloe grabbed a handful of perfectly clean clothes, shoved them into a pillowcase and carried them downstairs.

When she reached the basement door, Chloe hesitated. What if Beca wasn't there? It would make sense if she wasn't, after all. She shouldn't even be in the basement to begin with. But with every bit of hope Chloe had in her, she reached for the doorknob anyway and cautiously pulled the door open.

The light wasn't on, but the basement was already somewhat lit by the setting sun beaming through the small windows. This kept Chloe's hopes up enough to make her go inside.

With every step she took, Chloe could feel her heart beating faster and harder. She wasn't sure what she was more nervous about; Possibly finding the intruder in her basement again? Or knowing that she actually _wanted_ to find her?

Chloe dipped her head under the opening of the stairs and scanned the empty room. Her shoulders fell when she didn't find the little brunette. But it was strange. Chloe could feel _something_ in the air. Like Beca _was_ there… Somewhere.

There was a another opening in the basement that led to a second, smaller room. Chloe thought that maybe Beca was in there this time. Maybe if she just–

"Beca?" She had to try. "You down here?" It was quiet for a moment, but then Chloe smiled when the silence was broken by a soft, _"Chloe?,_ " coming from the other room.

 _I knew she was here!_ Chloe thought, and quickly finished coming down the rest of the steps.

When she reached the stain covered ground, Chloe's lips spread into a friendly grin when Beca stepped out of the dark room. It looked like she was wearing the same outfit she had been two days ago, which Chloe found weird, but she chose not to overthink it.

"You're here." Chloe said, her grip on the pillowcase tightening with excitement as Beca smiled back.

"You came looking for me?"

Chloe found the question odd, but then realized the true answer would be even weirder, because, yeah. She did go looking for her.

"Oh, uh– No." Chloe lied, laughing nervously and hoping the heat on her cheeks wasn't visible. "I just needed to..." She looked down at her hands and lifted the bundle up with a grin. "Get some laundry done."

Beca blinked and narrowed her eyes. "Didn't you just do laundry, like, two days ago?"

Chloe stiffened. _Think, woman. Think!_

"W-Well those were just bed sheets. I have actual clothes to wash this time." _Yeah,_ ** _clean_** _clothes…_

"Ah, okay." Beca casually leaned against the door frame, a smirk toying on her lips. "Dirtied a lot of clothes in two days, did ya?"

Chloe gasped. "Excuse me." She said, taking mock offense to the comment. "I didn't know you were a member of the laundry police."

Beca laughed and nudged herself off of the wall to put her hands up in defense. "Okay, alright." She said. "I'm sorry. I was just curious."

Chloe crossed her arms and quirked a brow. "Mhmm…"

It was nice seeing Beca much more relaxed this time around. Chloe was finding herself getting even more intrigued, and wondered what else she could potentially learn about her.

"Well, I'm gonna go throw this load in." Chloe said, gesturing to the machines behind her. "Wanna keep me company?"

Beca smiled. "Yeah, sure."

Chloe lost sight of her when she turned around to walk to the other side of the stairs where the washer and dryer were. She assumed Beca was following her, so she kept the conversation going.

"So tell me about yourself, Beca. Do you have any hobbies?" Chloe placed the pillow case on top of the dryer and turned to find Beca stilled and staring at the stain that was at the bottom of the steps. "Beca?"

The brunette seemed to have been snapped out of a trance and quickly looked up. "I'm sorry. What did you say?"

Chloe chuckled and opened the washer door. "I said tell me about yourself. I wanna get to know you."

"You do?" Beca asked. She sounded genuinely surprised.

"Well, yeah." Chloe said, dropping the clothes into the washer. "I mean I would like to know at least a _little_ something about the stranger hiding out in my basement." She was teasing Beca, and Chloe enjoyed the way the brunette bit down on the tip of her tongue, looking like she was trying to fight back a grin.

"Fair enough." Beca stepped over the stain and stuck her hands into her brown hoodie pocket as she leaned back against the stairs. "Okay." She said. "What would you like to know?"

"Well…" Chloe started, pouring detergent into the machine and pressing the 'start' button. "What kind of music do you like?"

Beca shrugged. "I don't know. I kind of like a little bit of everything." Chloe watched as Beca looked up in thought and pondered her answer. "Well, not everything. Not too much of a country fan."

An abrupt laugh escaped Chloe. "Wow. That was a generic answer that told me absolutely nothing about yourself." She matched Beca's relaxed state and leaned comfortably against the dryer. "Come on. You've gotta have a favorite."

Beca breathed a quiet laugh. "Okay," she said, "uh…" It took her a moment to find an honest answer, but she eventually narrowed it down to, "I guess I really like listening to EDM and Indie music."

"Okay." Chloe said, nodding slowly. "Now we're getting somewhere."

Beca crossed her arms. "Alright." She said, slightly smirking with enthusiasm. "It's your turn. Tell me something about _you_."

"Hmm…" Chloe hummed, turning her head to get a glimpse at the machine timer. "Well it looks like I've got another thirty-nine minutes before this load finishes." She reached her arms back, grabbed a hold of the dryer's edge and in one swift move, hopped up to comfortably sit on top of it. "Wanna play twenty questions?" The wink she gave Beca came naturally. She was blatantly flirting with her and Chloe couldn't bring herself to care.

"Aren't your parents going to wonder where you are?"

Chloe casually shrugged. "I don't think so. They're pretty busy organizing everything in the house." She patted the open space next to her with a smile. "I've got time."

Beca grinned. "Alright then." She mimicked Chloe's previous actions and jumped up to land on the washing machine. "You're on."

* * *

They spent the next half-hour playfully conversing, laughing and teasing each other over some of the embarrassing confessions that were revealed. Chloe was surprised at how easy it was talking with Beca. It felt like they had been friends for years, and Chloe toyed with the idea that maybe they had known each other in a previous life.

Their game unfortunately came to an abrupt stop when the timer buzzed at the end of it's cycle. The harsh and unexpected sound made Beca jump, and Chloe couldn't help but chuckle.

"Are you okay?" She asked, watching the way Beca clutched onto her chest as she breathed heavily.

"Yeah." Beca said with a brief nod. "I'm good."

"Sorry about that." Chloe slid off of the dryer and Beca followed.

Chloe put the clothes to dry, and when she finished, took out her phone to check the time.

"Oh, shoot." She said.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Chloe said, looking back up at Beca. "It's just getting late and I still have to pack my bag for school tomorrow." And then a thought came to her mind. "Hey, wait a minute. Do you go to Northview High too? Are you a Sophomore?"

Beca's face changed, and Chloe couldn't quite read the expression. "Oh, uh… no."

"Junior?"

Beca shook her head. "No, I mean, yeah, I'm a Sophomore, but I don't go to Northview."

"Oh…" Chloe hopped she didn't sound as disappointed as she felt. "Which school do you go to then?"

"I'm, um…" Beca cleared her throat. "I'm home schooled."

"Really?" Chloe wasn't expecting that. "Oh, wow. That's a lot of time spent at home. No wonder you like to get out."

Beca chuckled, softly, her eyes drifting lower. "Yeah."

As much as Chloe didn't want their time together to end, she knew she had to get upstairs before bed and get her things ready for the next day. Starting a new school was never an easy process and if Chloe wanted to make sure things went smoothly, then she needed to have extra time to get everything ready to go.

"Well, listen, as much as I'd love to stay and hangout with you, I really should get going." It pained her to have to say goodbye, but then Beca smiled warmly and Chloe felt her stomach fluttering all over again.

"It's okay." She said. "I understand. Thanks for staying for as long as you did."

"Of course." Chloe chirped, perhaps a little _too_ quickly. "What are friends for?" She winked again and moved passed a grinning Beca to get to the stairs. Chloe put a hand on one of the wood posts and turned to look at her. "Want me to leave the light on for you? I mean, I don't know if you're planning on staying any longer, but–"

"Yes, please." She said, guilelessly, and Chloe smiled.

"Okay." She walked up the worn out stairs and opened the door, looking down over her shoulder to wave at Beca. "Goodnight." Chloe grinned.

Beca waved back, gently. "Goodnight."

* * *

When Chloe's alarm woke her up the following morning, she quickly sprang up from her bed. She was oddly excited about starting fresh at a new school, an experience most teenagers would dread. But so far everything about the move had turned out to be pretty good. Plus, if the other students Chloe met were anything like Aubrey and Beca, then maybe it wouldn't be as bad as most new schools usually went.

After showering and brushing her teeth, Chloe made sure to dress to impress. For her first day outfit, Chloe chose to wear a hot pink, short sleeved, tie front blouse, with light blue jean capris and tan heeled sandals. It was super cute, and she couldn't wait to show it off.

Chloe then moved on to doing her makeup, and as she curled her mascara in front of her dresser mirror, she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in." Chloe had a habit of never fully shutting her door, always leaving about an inch wide gap open, but she appreciated that Chad always chose to knock instead of just barging in like some older brothers would do.

"You ready?" He asked, the smell of his cologne suddenly filling the air.

Chloe kept her focus on the mirror. "Almost." She put the makeup down and primped her hair up a few times with her hands. "Okay." She said, twirling in place and smiling widely at her brother. "Now I'm ready."

Chad smirked. "Someone's excited."

Chloe strolled over to her bed and grabbed her tan bag. "Well, I want to make a good impression." She didn't want to admit that she was actually pretty excited about it. There was no need to encourage more of Chad's teasing.

"Oh, you'll make a good impression with that outfit."

Chloe gasped and crossed her arms. "And what is _that_ supposed to mean?"

Chad laughed. "Nothing. You just look really pretty." He smiled genuinely, and his compliment did the trick to flip the switch on Chloe's defensive nature.

She dropped her arms and rose her shoulders with a grin. "Thank you!"

Chad shook his head, amused at his little sister, and laughed. "Alright." He said. "Let's go, Princess." He held the door open and extending his arm out. "I don't want to be late on the first day."

Chloe pouted as she walked passed him, muttering, "I'm not a Princess," as she walked out the door.

* * *

Chad drove them to Northview and together they figured out where the main office was. Chloe was glad she didn't have to go through the process alone, having her older brother by her side made it all a little less terrifying.

Once they were given their new I.D.s and schedules, Chloe and Chad walked out of the office and into the main courtyard.

"Period one, Government." Chad said aloud, making a disgusted face. "What'd you get?"

"English." Chloe responded, scanning the rest of her schedule to see what she was in store for that day.

"Nice."

The first bell rang and Chloe felt her stomach twist at the sound. "Guess that's our cue." She said, looking at her brother with hopeful eyes. "See you around?"

Chad wrapped a strong, comforting arm around his younger sister and squeezed her into a hug. "You bet." They separated and the encouraging smile he flashed Chloe was already helping in easing her worries. "Have a good first day."

"Thanks, Chad." Chloe smiled back. "You too."

* * *

It had taken Chloe a bit of time to find the correct classroom, to the point where she was almost late.

When she finally found it, she walked inside and was immediately greeted by a handful of peculiar eyes curiously staring back at her. It made her nervous, afraid of the unknown, and Chloe gulped, anxiety creeping it's way into her chest.

"Chloe!"

But then a familiar voice made itself know amongst the foreign crowd and it instantly made Chloe smile.

"Aubrey?" The blonde was waving at her from across the room and then she looked at the girl sitting next to her. "Move. My new friend is going to sit there."

The girl didn't budge at first, but Aubrey kept glaring at her until she finally gave in and rolled her eyes. She picked up her things from the desk, releasing an annoyed groan as she did, and sluggishly walked to another seat.

Aubrey grinned at Chloe and pointed to the– now unoccupied– chair with a nod. Chloe giggled nervously but ultimately took the seat.

"I knew we would have a class together." Aubrey said, smiling as she watched Chloe sit down.

"Yeah," Chloe said, placing her bag on her lap, "I'm glad we do. It's nice knowing at least **one** person at this school."

"Well I'm glad it's me." Aubrey chirped. "I know the "ins and outs" of this school. We'll make this place your bitch in no time." Chloe laughed and Aubrey continued. "Like my dad always says, when you walk into a new kingdom… Make it your own."

Chloe's smile was slow to develop, unsure of what that was supposed to mean, and her eyes narrowed in confusion. After a moment of pondering she chose to go along with it and slowly nodded her head as if she understood.

Their conversation was cut short by the sound of the bell. Despite Chloe's excitement and high expectations, the class turned out to be just… okay.

Their teacher, Mrs. Abernathy, wasn't terrible, but she also wasn't the best. She was tolerable, the class was tolerable, and Chloe sighed to herself in disappointment.

But hey, at least she had Aubrey!

* * *

Chloe started feeling uneasy again when the class ended and she knew that there were still five other classes she needed to get through.

"What other classes do you have?" Aubrey asked, strolling down the crowded hallway with Chloe.

The redhead took out her schedule and read the list out loud. "Hmm… Period two, US History. Period three, Economics. Period four, Pre-Calculus. Period–"

"Ooh!"Aubrey suddenly exclaimed. "Who do you have for Pre-Cal?"

"Uhh…" Chloe squinted her eyes to read the small font. "Mr. Franklin?"

Aubrey suddenly grabbed her arm, stopping them. "Oh my gosh! I have that class too!"

Chloe giggled. "Yeah?"

"Yeah!" She had stopped them just as they reached the end of the hallway. It was split into two different paths, and Aubrey smiled at Chloe before going her separate way. "So I guess I'll see you then."

"Guess so."

With a wiggle of her fingers and a quick, "Bye!" Aubrey turned and made her way down the left side hallway.

Chloe waved her goodbye and then sighed, officially being left alone again. She felt a wave of panic rush through her, realizing she didn't know where her next class was, and she quickly reached for her bag.

"Shit." Chloe muttered, struggling to remove the map of the school.

It was hard maneuvering through the sea of hormones, while simultaneously trying to figure out where the hell she was even going. Chloe's eyes darted up and down as she scanned the numbers on the passing classrooms and compared them to the ones she saw on the map.

Chloe was so focused on her scavenger hunt, that she didn't notice a boy quickly approaching in front of her. She ended up colliding with the stranger head on and dropped her map and schedule in the process.

"Oh my gosh!" Chloe said, rubbing the throbbing part of her forehead. "I'm so sorry about th–"

"Watch where you're going!" The boy suddenly snapped, and Chloe tensed at his harsh tone.

"Geez…" She said, quietly, gapping at him in shock as he grunted and walked away. Chloe shook her head as she watched him leave and slowly crouched down to pick up her things.

When she heard the bell ring Chloe groaned and dropped her head back to stare at the ceiling in frustration. "This is going to be a long day."

* * *

Fourth period came around, and Chloe was reminded of the fact that her new neighbor would also be in the class. The thought was nice enough to bring her mood back up, considering the day hadn't been going as well as Chloe had hoped it would.

She had been late to two of her classes so far, slipped on the stairs and scratched her knee at one point, accidentally called her teacher, Mr. Tessiclus, "Mr. Testicles," and then there was the whole not-so-nice encounter with the rude brunette boy she had run into earlier.

Yeah… Things could have been going a lot better.

But Chloe was thankful Aubrey's familiar face was waiting for her in her next class, and when she walked through the door, Chloe smiled when she spotted her neighbor talking to another pretty girl sitting behind her.

Chloe cheerfully walked up to them. "Hey, Aubrey."

The blonde seemed to have recognized her voice and swiftly spun around in her chair to greet her with a friendly smile. "Chloe!" She said. "You made it."

"Yeah." Chloe chuckled. "This class wasn't so hard to find as the others."

"Who's your friend?" The other girl asked Aubrey, her chin propped on her hand as she looked Chloe up and down.

"Oh, this is my new neighbor, Chloe." Aubrey explained. "Chloe, this is my best friend, Stacie."

"Hi." Stacie grinned, her eyes and tone coming off a little more than friendly, but Chloe chose to ignore it.

"Hi." She smiled back, and looked at Aubrey. "Hey, do you know where I can sit?"

"Oh." Aubrey turned her body and pointed at the empty seat next to Stacie. "You can sit there, actually. It's open."

"Awes!" Chloe moved to take her new seat, thankful for it's close proximity to her new friends.

Wait… they were considered friends now… right?

"So you just moved here?" Stacie asked.

Chloe nodded. "Mhm. Moved into the house right next to Aubrey's."

"No way! The one that's been empty since last year?"

"That's the one." Why was that such a popular fact to everyone?

Stacie scrunched her nose. "That place is weird."

Chloe furrowed her brow. "What's so weird about it?" Stacie opened her mouth to reply but before she could get a sound out, the bell rang.

A middle-aged looking man, whom Chloe assumed was Mr. Franklin, began writing equations on the white board. The collective sound of students taking out their binders and notebooks grew louder, so Chloe took that as a hint to do the same.

Aubrey still hadn't turned back around to face the front and looked at Chloe. "Have lunch with us after. We'll introduce you to our friends."

Chloe glanced over at Stacie who was nodding in agreement and smiled. "Okay." She said. "Sure."

* * *

"Hey girls!" Aubrey grinned, greeting a table full of very diverse looking girls. "There's someone I'd like you all to meet." She grabbed Chloe's arm and tugged her forward. "This is Chloe. My new neighbor. She's going to be having lunch with us from now on."

Chloe quirked a brow. She was?

"I am?"

Aubrey smiled tightly at her. "Yup." And took a seat. "You're one of us now."

"You're a singer too?!" Suddenly came from an excited, younger looking girl with long brown hair.

Chloe blinked. "What?"

"I was actually hoping to find that out today, Emily." Aubrey said.

"Way'da go, Legacy." Said another blonde, though this one had an Australian accent.

Aubrey looked at Chloe. "Come sit." She said, patting the empty seat on the other side of her.

Chloe was intrigued, a bit terrified, but intrigued, and she sat down next to Aubrey with a timid smile.

"We're part of the school choir." Aubrey explained. "Do you sing at all?"

Chloe shrugged, a slight blush making it's presence known on her face. "I mean I sing in the shower and in my bedroom, but–" Her eyes danced around the table. "I've never really sung in front of people other than my family members."

"Really?" Stacie asked, leaning over Aubrey's shoulder so she could get a better look at her. Chloe brought her shoulders up and shook her head.

"Well sing something for us." Aubrey casually suggested, and Chloe felt her heart stop.

"Now?" She asked, her eyes wide.

Aubrey nodded, smiling brilliantly. "Right now."

"Yeah! Sing for us." Emily said, eagerly.

Chloe's breath hitched in her throat. She had **never** sung for a bunch of strangers before. Was Aubrey insane? What would she even sing?

Chloe's brain began rushing through the long list of songs she had learned over her life span thus far. Beginning with "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," and ending with "Titanium" by David Guetta.

Wait! That was it!

Chloe remembered the last time she had sung that song. It was in front of Beca. And though it may have been an accident, Beca had seemed to really enjoy her voice. Hell, it was pretty much the reason her secret hiding spot had been exposed in the first place.

So if Beca really liked her voice, then maybe Aubrey and her friends would too.

After taking a moment to collect her thoughts, Chloe cleared her throat. "O-Okay." She looked at the girls one more time before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath through her nose.

It was her time to shine.

 _"_ _I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose. Fire away, fire away."_

Her voice had started of quiet and soft, but the more Chloe sang, the more her confidence increased.

 _"_ _Ricochet, you take your aim. Fire away, fire away."_

Aubrey, Stacie and Emily gradually joined in, their voices harmonizing perfectly with Chloe's, which took the redhead by surprise and she opened her eyes.

 _"_ _Shoot me down, but I won't fall. I am titanium."_

Three other girls joined in, adding a beat and another harmony, and it made Chloe smile.

 _"_ _Shoot me down, but I won't fall. I am titanium…"_

They finished the song together and the electric buzz that rushed through Chloe's veins as a result was enticing.

 _That was beautiful!_

"Wow!" Emily grinned. "You have a great voice. You should totally join the choir!"

"Yeah." Another girl added. She had dark skin and colorful short hair. "You've got some pipes on you, Red."

Chloe felt her heart swelling in her chest at the compliments and she looked down when she felt a hand on hers. It was Aubrey.

"I think you would be a great asset to our team." Her smile was honest and Chloe couldn't have been more proud of herself. "Would you consider auditioning for the choir?"

Chloe didn't answer right away. She glanced around the table at the other girls, who were all sporting encouraging smiles… well, except for the Australian, who appeared to be more interested in the text she was vigorously typing into her phone.

Chloe had always loved singing, and she _really_ loved the idea of being apart of a group. So, with that all being said, what did she have to lose?

After taking another moment to officially decide, a small grin slowly curved across Chloe's lips and she nodded.

"Yeah, okay." She said. "I'll join." Chloe giggled when the girl's shouted in celebration.

"We got another one!" Emily exclaimed, and for the slightest second Chloe felt liked she had just joined a cult.

"Great!" Aubrey smiled, taking her hand back to clap it with the other. "Okay! Introductions." She looked at Chloe. "You've already met me, Stacie and–" She glanced at the young brunette. "I guess Emily now, too."

"Hi." Emily waved, and Chloe chuckled.

"Hi."

"This is Cynthia-Rose." Aubrey said, pointing at the African American girl, who gave Chloe a quick nod and a wink.

"Sup."

Aubrey then gestured to a blonde and brunette who were sitting very closely to each other. "Those two are Jessica and Ashley."

"Wait." Chloe said. "Which one is Jessica and which one is Ashley?"

"I'm Jessica." They both said in unison, looking at each other, confused.

"Uhh…" Chloe said, looking at Aubrey for an explanation.

"You get used to it." Was her only response. She shifted the attention then to a small, hispanic looking girl sitting across from her. "This is Flo."

"¡Hola!" Flo said. "Bienvenido a la familia."

Whoops. Chloe didn't understand Spanish, and she shook her head. "I'm sorry. I don't–"

"I said welcome to the family." Flo smiled.

"Oh, good." Chloe breathed, placing a hand on her chest in relief. "You speak English."

"Yes. I do." Flo laughed and Aubrey continued.

"Sitting at the corner over there is Fat Amy."

Chloe's eyes widened. _Holy shit, that was_ ** _really_** _offensive,_ she thought. "Um…" Chloe said, nervously. "You let them call you, Fat Amy?"

But the blonde didn't seem offended at all. "Yup." She said, confidentially, taking a bite out of her apple. "I let everyone call me that so these twig bitches don't say it behind my back."

The girls laughed and although it still seemed strange to Chloe she decided to go along with it.

"Heh… Okay then."

"And last, but not least…" Aubrey dipped her head to look under the table. "That's Lily."

Chloe furrowed her brow and slowly craned her neck to look under there as well. Sure enough, there was a thin, Asian girl with long black hair and wide eyes staring back at her. She was holding a triangle shaped sandwich with two hands and was nibbling on it like a hamster.

 _"_ _I was born in Area 51."_ She mumbled, quietly, and Chloe gradually made her way back up to the top of the table.

She pouted her lip and nodded her head as she looked around at the strange group of misfits. But as weird as they seemed, Chloe actually really liked them.

"Alright." She said, grinning like a child in a toy store. "It's great officially meeting you guys."

* * *

Chloe had exchanged numbers with some of the girls during lunch, and when the school day finally ended, she took out her phone to text Aubrey.

 **Chloe:** _Hey Aubrey! I'm here at the front  
of the school. My brother drives us home.  
Would you like a ride? :)_

That seemed casual enough. Chloe didn't want to come off like a stalker or anything. When Aubrey replied shortly after, she smiled.

 **Aubrey:** _Hey you! Oh I'm sorry. I'm  
actually headed to choir practice rn. But  
thanks for the offer! Maybe next time. :D_

Chloe deflated at the response, but she understood.

 **Chloe:** _Oh okay. No worries. For sure! :)_

She tucked her phone back into her pocket and released a breath, making a horse sound with her lips in the process.

"There you are!" Came from a familiar voice behind her.

Chloe smiled as she turned around. "Hey, Chad."

The taller boy pulled her into a half-hug. "How was your first day?"

"Oh, God…" Chloe laughed and started walking towards the school's student parking lot. "Let me tell you."

* * *

A few hours had gone by and Chloe found herself bored in her room. She was listening to music as she tried to complete her homework. She had a fair amount of catching up to do, since Northview had been in session for about a month already.

Chloe was tapping her pencil to the beat of the song that was playing, and she stopped when an idea popped into her head.

Beca.

Sure she had already seen the girl, what, two days in a row? But hey, a third day couldn't hurt… right?

Chloe sprang up from her chair and rushed to the mirror. She cleaned the smeared mascara from the corners of her eyes and fixed some of her loosened curls. With a pinch of her cheeks, Chloe was satisfied with her look and jetted out the door.

"Woah!" Chad suddenly said, his reflexes catching Chloe in her tracks before she could fully run into him. "What's your hurry?"

"Chad!" Chloe yelped, quickly correcting her heightened pitch. "Sorry, I was just, um…" She took a glimpse down the hallway. "G-Going to the bathroom!"

Chad narrowed his eyes at her. "Okayyy…?"

Chloe smiled, anxiously. "What?" She asked, ducking around him and walking backwards towards the bathroom. "When you gotta go, you gotta go." Chloe huffed a short laugh when she got to the door, but Chad's expression didn't change.

After a moment, he seemed to have given up on his suspicions and gradually turned to walk into his room. Once Chloe heard his door shut, she sighed in relief and gingerly tip toed down the stairs.

She made it passed her parents without being noticed and stood in front of the basement door. It may have been a _little_ ridiculous for Chloe to cross her fingers in hopes that Beca would be there, but she did, and she slowly opened the door with anticipation.

When Chloe saw that the light had already been turned on, she squeaked.

 _Yes!_

Chloe quickly closed the door behind her and skipped down the steps. She smiled when she found Beca casually sitting on a small stack of plastic tubs, an arm draped over her bent knee while her other leg dangled off the side.

"Funny." Beca said, standing up from her seat and crossing her arms as she smirked at Chloe. "I don't see a bag of _anything_ in your hands this time."

 _Busted._

Chloe bit down on her bottom lip. She knew her real intentions were clear as day, so she decided there was really no point in trying to hide them any longer.

"Okay." Chloe said, hoping she wasn't blushing. "You got me." She stepped forward and kept going until she was only about a foot away from Beca. "I wanted to see you."

The smirk Beca was originally sporting smoothed into a gentle smile. "I wanted to see you too." Her eyes drifted lower then, taking in Chloe's bright outfit and the redhead swore her skin burned wherever they landed. "Wow, you look…" Chloe eyed her expectantly, but Beca cleared her throat and shook the moment away. "You look really pretty."

Chloe smiled, resisting the urge to squeal and do a happy dance. "Thank you." She gestured towards Beca's jacket. "I see you're wearing your famous hoodie again."

"What?" Beca asked, looking down. "Oh," she laughed, "yeah. It's uh… It's my favorite." She took a step back, then, "So tell me," and lifted herself to sit on the plastic tubs again. "How was your first day at Northview?"

"Oh my God!" Chloe said, the energy from her experience returning as she took a seat next to Beca. "It was **insane**."

Beca laughed and simply watched as Chloe recounted the crazy events of her day with enthusiasm. Once she made it through the entire story, Chloe turned to topic on Beca.

"So how was _your_ day, huh?" She asked. "Learn anything interesting at home?"

"Huh?" Beca asked, confused for a moment, but then seeming to catch on to what Chloe was asking. "Oh, uh…" She shrugged, her demeanor lowering. "Not really. Same old, same old, ya know?" Beca seemed lighten back up again. "My day wasn't interesting, but you joining the choir definitely is. Are you really gonna do it?"

Her question made Chloe second guess herself. Should she not? Was it a bad idea? But then Beca continued.

"Because I think you should. You've…" Beca broke their eye contact, glancing down at her twiddling fingers before looking back up at her. "You've got a beautiful voice."

And if Chloe hadn't been blushing before, she certainly was now. When the other girls had complimented her singing voice, it felt great. But wow. When _Beca_ complimented her…

Without thinking, Chloe acted on impulse and leaned forward to peck Beca on the cheek.

"Woah!" Beca shrieked, jumping at the sudden contact and practically falling out of her seat.

Chloe immediately regretted her decision and quickly started to apologize. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" She cried. "I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to offend you. I–"

"No, no. It's okay." Beca said, her hand coming up to touch the place where Chloe's lips had been. "I… I liked it." She smiled. "I just wasn't expecting it."

Her reassuring words melted Chloe's worries away, but triggered a whole other churning of activity in the pit of her stomach.

Was Chloe seriously already falling for this girl? A girl whom she literally just met _three_ days before?

What the hell was wrong with her?

"Okay…" Chloe said, a soft smile returning to her face.

They sat there in a surprisingly comfortable silence for a moment, and it got Chloe thinking.

She didn't want to have to keep meeting Beca in secret. Especially in the basement, of all places. After getting to know her a little more these last few days, Chloe thought that maybe it would be okay for her to be introduced to her parents. Then they could at least hang out in the house if they wanted to.

"Hey, Beca." Chloe said, mustering the courage to finally ask the question. "Do you maybe want to come upstairs to… meet my parents? I'm sure they'll like you." She smiled, sweetly, hoping Beca would say yes, but the brunette's expression changed, her eyes widening in fear as she looked away.

"Uh…" Beca muttered, gently shaking her head. "I'm sorry, but–" And then her eyes found Chloe's again. "Can we not do that? It's not a good idea."

Chloe tried her best to hide her disappointment. "What?" She asked, her brow furrowing slightly. "Why isn't it a good idea?"

Beca sighed, "It's just–" and stood up, almost frustratingly. "Look, I don't want my parents knowing that I hangout here, okay? If _your_ parents find out, then they might tell _my_ parents, and that just wouldn't–" Her words drifted away as she shook her head again.

"My parents aren't like that." Chloe tried, standing up to be face to face with Beca. "They won't tell your parents anything if you don't want them to." It surprised her how much Beca changed whenever her foster parents were brought up. Was she really that afraid of them?

"Still…"

"Oh, come on, Beca." Chloe didn't understand, and she wanted Beca to feel safe with her. "Why are you so–"

"Chloe, please." Beca pleaded, cutting her off. "Just trust me, okay? It's best if no one knows that I'm down here."

Chloe couldn't believe what she was hearing. "No one?" She asked. This was weird. "Why is that?"

Beca was clearly hiding something from Chloe and it bothered her. Chloe had chosen to trust Beca before and allowed her to stay hanging out in the basement. Chloe had proven, so far, that she could trust her.

So why didn't she?

"I can't–" Beca said, dropping her head, weakly. "I can't… tell you." When Chloe didn't say anything right away, Beca glanced upward. Chloe must have been doing a horrible job at disguising how hurt she was, because Beca was quick to then try and fix things. "Not yet, at least. But I will." She said. "I promise. Just–" Beca took a step closer, staring hard into Chloe's eyes. "Just _please_ trust me on this."

Warning sirens were blaring in Chloe's mind. Everything about the conversation had been a red flag. The smarter part of Chloe's brain was advising her to cut all ties with this girl and kick her out of the house, immediately.

But damn it. The other, more compassionate– but also probably more mentally unstable– side, was falling for Beca's sincerity and wanted to do nothing but trust her whole heartedly.

Chloe knew it wasn't logically. Hell, it was probably, on some scale, even dangerous. But there was something about Beca that spoke to Chloe on a whole different level.

Something was telling Chloe that no harm would come from trusting Beca.

It was something about her…

Chloe breathed a skeptical sigh through her nose, still eyeing the brunette suspiciously, but she ultimately uncrossed her arms and lowered her defense systems.

"I must be out of my mind." Chloe said, dropping her head back to laugh cynically at the ceiling. She tilted her chin back down to look at Beca. "Fine." She said. "I won't tell anyone."

A small smile appeared on Beca's face. "Really?"

Chloe nodded. "I'm choosing to trust you, Beca." She took another step and leaned a bit forward. "Please don't make me regret it."

Beca was still smiling and quickly shook her head. "You won't." She said. "I promise!"

Chloe fought back a grin. "Okay."

The sound of footsteps walking above them caught the girl's attention and they both looked up.

"Crap." Chloe said. "I should probably head back upstairs." She looked back down at Beca. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay." Beca said, slipping her hands into her brown hoodie pocket. "I should get going too."

"Okay then." Chloe wanted to hug her goodbye, it was just her inner nature. Okay, and she kind of really wanted to. But Chloe remembered the way Beca had reacted to her when she kissed her cheek, so Chloe thought that maybe hugging her wouldn't be such a good idea either.

But… then again…

Chloe surged herself forward and wrapped her arms around Beca. She held her close in a firm hug and Chloe could feel her small body tensing against her.

Beca hadn't brought her arms up to reciprocate the gesture, but she was smiling when they separated. "You're not much into personal boundaries, are you?"

Chloe smirked. "I can stop."

"No, don't." Beca grinned. "I like it."

Chloe felt a shiver run up her spine when Beca's dark eyes met hers again, but she maintained her trembling enough to get her response out.

"Good." Chloe managed to say, flirtatiously turning her body away to start heading up the stairs. She took two steps before looking over at Beca again. "Same time tomorrow?"

Beca smiled at her. "Sure."

"Great." Chloe smiled back. "I'll see you then."

* * *

 **Author's 2nd Note: Well, shit! That was a lot to take in.**

 **I wonder what Beca is hiding...? ;)**

 **Follow me on Tumblr at "not-so-average-fangirl" for sneak peeks and other work.**

 **Stay tuned!**


	3. Make A Wish

**Author's 1st Note: Can I just say how much I LOVE reading your messages and comments? You guys are amazing. PLEASE don't hesitate to send more! xD**

 **Enjoy the new chapter!**

* * *

The following morning began similarly to the way it had the day before. Although, this time, when Chloe's alarm went off, she was awoken from a pleasant dream that had starred a particular little brunette.

Chloe groaned as she turned over in bed and shoved her face into a pillow. "Get a grip, Beale." She mumbled to herself, her voice muffled by the cushion.

It took her a moment to fully wake up, but when she did, Chloe sat up and shook her head, trying to rid herself of any other "Beca thoughts."

She groggily made her way to the bathroom and began her usual morning routine.

* * *

When Chloe and Chad got to their school, they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. Chloe was able to get to her English class a little earlier than she had the day before– considering this time she actually knew where the fuck it was– and when she walked in, she saw Aubrey writing something in her notebook.

"Morning, Aubrey." Chloe smiled, sitting down next to the blonde.

Aubrey looked up from her book. "Good morning, Chloe." She carefully tore the page she had been scribbling in and handed it to Chloe. "This is for you."

Chloe took the paper and read it to herself:

 _"_ _Friday, September 22  
4:00 pm  
Room 2-105"_

"What's this?"

Aubrey grinned. "That's the info for the choir audition. It's this Friday."

Chloe's face lit up. "Oh my gosh! Really?" Aubrey nodded. "Thank you! This is–" Chloe stared at the paper in awe. "Wow, this is awesome." And then she looked up at Aubrey with a wide smile. "I'm so excited!"

Aubrey chuckled. "Glad to hear it." Chloe was still enthralled by the news, but Aubrey brought her back down to Earth. "Sorry about yesterday." She said, and Chloe looked at her, puzzled. "I would have loved to hangout with you, but you know, practice."

"Oh!" Chloe said, finally understanding what she was talking about. "It's totally fine." She assured. "I understand."

"Buuuttt…" Aubrey continued, a playful tone in her voice. "We only have rehearsals every other day. So," she nudged Chloe with her elbow, "can I take you up on that offer today?"

Chloe grew even more excited. "Of course!" She said, and Aubrey smiled.

"Great."

* * *

When the end of the school day arrived, Chloe eagerly waited by the main entrance for Aubrey and Chad to show up.

She was humming a tune to herself as she played a game on her phone, smiling when she heard Aubrey's voice behind her.

"I'm here!"

Chloe turned to greet her. "Hey!" They hugged one another and when Chloe opened her eyes over Aubrey's shoulder, she recognized the brunette boy that had been rude to her the day before walking by with the same scowl on his face.

"Ugh…" Chloe groaned, separating from the hug.

"What's wrong?"

Chloe gestured her chin in the direction of the boy. "I accidentally ran into that guy yesterday. He was really mean to me."

Aubrey followed Chloe's gaze. "Oh…" She said. "Yeah, that's Jesse Swanson. He's not particularly nice to anyone."

Chloe tilted her head. "How come?"

"Well, he wasn't always like that." Aubrey disclosed. "He used to be very nice."

Chloe was still watching him until he disappeared into the art building. "What changed?"

"His best friend ran away last year."

"Oh, that sucks." Chloe said, feeling sorry for the boy. "But geez. All this time and he's still so bitter about it?"

Aubrey shrugged. "I guess. His friend actually used to live in the house you guys just moved into."

This caught Chloe's attention. "Really?" Maybe this was why there were so many strange comments about her new home.

"Mhm." Aubrey nodded, and then she snickered. "Jesse has some weird conspiracy theory as to what he thinks really happened, but no one believes him."

Chloe furrowed her brow. "What does he think happened?"

"Hey, Chlo!" Chad shouted, suddenly appearing behind the girls. "Ready to go?" He noticed Aubrey then, "Oh, hello," and smiled. "Who are you?"

The blonde grinned. "I'm Aubrey." She said, offering her hand. "You must be Chad."

"Yeah." He said, shaking it. "How'd you know?"

"Aubrey's one of our neighbors." Chloe clarified, and Aubrey nodded in agreement.

"Yup. And Chloe's new best friend." She draped an arm over Chloe's shoulders and the redhead giggled.

"Is that so?" Chad asked, eyeing his sister blithely. This time both girls nodded and Chloe laughed. "Well alright then." He turned his body and extended an arm towards direction of the parking lot. "Shall we?"

* * *

Chloe had officially finished setting up her room two nights prior and was excited to show it off to someone.

She could tell Aubrey liked it, by the way her face expressed pure wonderment as she walked inside. Chloe grinned proudly and flicked the light switch on, strings of twinkle lights suddenly illuminating the walls and ceiling.

"Nice room." Aubrey said, her eyes still taking in the surroundings.

"Thanks." Chloe tossed her bag onto her desk chair.

They eventually settled on Chloe's bed, taking their homework out and assisting each other on any problems they didn't understand. The atmosphere was a tad boring, so Chloe turned on some music. It turned out to be a distraction, but their singing ultimately led to a more productive outcome.

"I should get you warmed up for the audition." Aubrey joked, but then snapped her head up with wide eyes. "Wait a minute. That's a great idea!" She quickly got up from the bed and stood in front of Chloe, holding her hand out so Chloe could take it. "Come on."

"What?" Chloe chuckled, allowing the blonde to pull her up.

"I'm going to help you get your voice where it needs to be for Friday." Aubrey said. "When you sing for the choir, they'll have no choice but to take you."

Chloe smiled. She was already looking forward to the audition, but gaining Aubrey's help was an added bonus.

"Okay."

Aubrey grinned. "Awesome." She turned off the music and positioned them so they were face to face with each other. "We'll start with basic scales."

* * *

They trained for a few hours, taking half hour breaks to rest and hydrate Chloe's voice. Chloe had never worked her vocal chords so much before, but the warm tingling in her throat was kind of amazing. It felt good. Like feeling sore after a good workout. Chloe felt productive, like she was doing something meaningful for the first time in a while.

Having Aubrey as an instructor turned out to be pretty fun too. She really knew her stuff and Chloe was grateful she was taking the time out to teach her.

* * *

The evening sun was on the verge of setting, when Aubrey announced that she had to get home to complete some chores before her father got there. Chloe helped her collect her things and walked her downstairs to the front door.

Aubrey reached into her bag for something and groaned when she couldn't find it.

"Damnit."

"What's wrong?" Chloe asked.

Aubrey huffed a sigh of frustration. "Nothing. Just forgot to grab my house key this morning."

"Ohh…" Chloe said. "Well, you can wait here until your parents get home if you want."

"Thank you, but that's okay." Aubrey said, swinging the strap of her bag over her shoulder. "I have a spare for the back door hidden under a rock."

"You do?" Chloe laughed, and nodded. "Smart."

Chloe lead them to the sliding door in the kitchen and opened it, letting Aubrey walk out first.

"Thank you."

Chloe hummed and closed the screen door behind them. She looked around the yard as they walked towards Aubrey's house and stopped when it suddenly dawned on her.

"I just realized I've never been back here before."

Aubrey stopped too and turned around. "You haven't?" Chloe's eyes were still shifting around but she shook her head in response. "Huh." Aubrey said, deciding to get a look at the environment too. "Yeah, these houses have pretty nice backyards."

Chloe had to agree. It was fairly spacious with green grass as far as the eye could see. There were a few large rocks, two trees and an old shed, but what really caught Chloe's interest was the small garden of purple flowers planted against the house.

"Ooh…" She said, walking towards it with a smile. "These are pretty."

Aubrey came up behind her. "Yeah, they are." She said. "The mom that lived here before planted them before they left the house… after their kid ran away." Upon hearing this, Chloe's empathetic nature immediately felt sorry for the woman. "I always thought it was like a tribute or something, so, I've been watering them ever since to keep them alive."

"Aww…" Chloe said, curving her brow as she smiled at Aubrey. "That's so sweet of you." She looked back down at the garden. "What kind of flower are they?"

Aubrey bent at the waist and held one in her hand to examine it. "I think they're lilies." She concluded.

"Cute."

As Aubrey stood up straight again, the basement light suddenly came on, catching both of them off guard.

"You should get that checked by the way." Aubrey said, and Chloe looked at her, confused.

"Get what checked?"

Aubrey pointed at one of the small basement windows. "The light in your basement."

"Why?"

"Because after the previous owners moved out, I would sometimes see that light turn on on it's own. It was weird." Aubrey chuckled then. "For a while I though the place was just haunted or something."

It took everything Chloe had not to burst out into laughter and explain exactly what– or, in this case, _who_ – was the cause of it. But she remembered her promise to Beca and kept her mouth shut.

Aubrey suddenly widened her eyes. "Shit, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you that. I don't want you scared of your own house now."

And then Chloe couldn't hold it back any longer and laughed. "No, it's fine." She giggled. _God, if only she knew._ "I'm not scared. Don't worry."

Aubrey released a breath. "Phew! Okay, good." She chuckled and started walking backwards towards her house. "Well, have a goodnight!" She said, and then pointed at her. "Make sure you practice those techniques I taught you."

Chloe smiled. "I will!" She said, waving her goodbye. "Thanks again!"

Aubrey reached the back door and flashed Chloe one last smile. "Anytime."

Chloe watched her find her spare key and enter her home. She waited until Aubrey was fully inside to then spin around and power walk into her house.

Chloe came through the sliding door and stopped when she saw her mother washing dishes at the sink.

 _Shit._

The older woman turned her head to look at her. "Your new friend leave already?"

Chloe slowly closed the door behind her. "Um, yeah." She said, her eyes darting in the direction of the basement. "She had to go home to get some chores done."

"Bummer." Claire placed a clean plate into the dish rack. "I was going to ask if she wanted to stay for dinner."

"Aw." Chloe said, anxiety creeping up on her the longer she stood there. "Maybe next time." She didn't want to be rude to her mother, but Chloe also _really_ wanted to get down to the basement, so she cut the conversation short. "Well, I'm gonna go finish my homework." She said, casually sporting a tight, nervous smile.

Luckily Claire was focused on the pot she was cleaning. "Okay, honey." She said. "I'll let you know when dinner is ready."

"Okay!" Chloe quietly walked towards the basement door, thankful it was located around the corner in the hallway, where she could sneak inside without her mother noticing.

She carefully stepped in and slowly shut the door, swiftly coming down the stairs once she made it undetected.

"Beca!" Chloe beamed, reaching the bottom, but finding that the brunette was no where in sight. Chloe tried searching the other room. "Beca?" It was dark in this part of the basement, but Chloe could hear shuffling and make out the outline of someone walking towards her. She smiled. "There you are."

The figure grew taller the closer it got and Chloe gulped nervously when she realized it wasn't Beca.

It was her brother.

"Who's Beca?" Chad asked, folding his arms and leaning against the wall.

"U-Umm…" Chloe felt like the walls were closing in on her as she panicked. Her face was on fire and she took a step back to catch her breath. "Beca is…" She had to think fast. "Beca is… a cat!"

 _Good one._

Chad quirked a brow. "A cat?"

"My cat." Chloe lied.

"Your cat?" Chloe nodded anxiously but Chad's suspicious expression didn't change. "Chlo. You don't have a cat."

"Y-Yes I do!" Fuck. He wasn't buying it. "I-I found a cat down here the night we moved in. She comes and goes when she wants, but I take care of her when she's here." Her lie was surprisingly growing more convincing, though Chloe couldn't believe she was basically describing Beca as a stray animal.

Chloe searched Chad's eyes for any sign that he was accepting her speech. It was taking every ounce of Chloe's effort to hang on to the facade, and she knew she had to continue if she was going to pull it off.

"Please don't tell mom and dad!" She deceitfully pleaded. "You know dad won't let me keep it if he found it." This was a great fact to play on. Their father had never been a fan of cats since he was attacked by one as a child.

Chloe could hear her heart pounding in her ears and swore she felt a drip of sweat come down the side of her face, but then Chad's doubt seemed to have melted away and he moved off of the wall to look down at her.

"Alright, fine." He said, uncrossing his arms and smirking. "But it's gonna cost'ya."

Chloe frowned. "What do you want?"

Chad grabbed ahold of his chin and hummed as he glanced around in thought. "I know." He said, surely. "You can do my laundry for me for the next month."

Chloe's jaw dropped. That was just too perfect. She maintained her composure and acted like his request was agonizing.

"Awh, come on! Seriously?" Chloe whined, thinking about how she should totally win an Oscar for the performance she was putting on.

Chad grinned. "Yup." He said. "I hate coming down here. It's gross."

Chloe pouted. "It's not _that_ bad." She said, feeling defensive for a moment, a brief glitch in her role play.

Chad just looked at her. "Whatever. Anyway, that's the deal. Take it or leave it."

 _Of course_ Chloe was going to take it. This would provide her the perfect alibi for the next month as to why she's in the basement more than usual.

She just couldn't let Chad know that.

"Ugh…" Chloe groaned. "Fine."

Chad grinned brilliantly and stuck out his hand so they could shake on it. "I don't know why you're complaining." He said, leaning in. "Now you'll have more time to spend with your precious little kitty cat."

He winked and Chloe cringed away, finding his tone a little alarming, like he knew something. But Chloe was sure there was no way he possibly could.

"Anyway," Chloe said, desperately wanting to take the spotlight off of her. "What were _you_ doing down here?"

"Dad sent me down with some boxes to stow away." He said. "But I'm done now, so, I'm gonna go." Chad moved passed his sister, but turned back to look at her when he reached the stairs. "Why Beca?" He asked.

Chloe widened her eyes, the question prompting multiple thoughts in her mind. "What?"

"Why did you name her Beca? Isn't that like, a human name?"

"I don't know." Chloe said, questioning wether or not her brother was _ever_ going to leave. "I thought it was pretty."

"Uh, huh…" He thought about it for a moment, but ultimately shrugged and finally started walking up the stairs. "Alright then." He closed the door and Chloe sighed in relief.

"That was close."

* * *

School was getting better. By Wednesday, Chloe had already memorized the layout of the school and figured out which paths would get her to her classes faster.

She really enjoyed lunch, using the time to grow closer to her new group of friends. Chloe hoped she would get accepted into their choir. The thought of them possibly kicking her out of their table if she didn't make it was scary. She really liked these girls and she wanted to make them proud.

Chloe knew they would be busy with rehearsals after school that day, so Chloe looked forward to going home and maybe spending some time with Beca.

Well, if she was there.

Chloe wondered why Beca hadn't shown up the day before, but she was also kind of glad that she hadn't. Who knew what could have happened had Chad discovered her down there.

* * *

When they got home, Chloe knew it would have been too obvious for her to have gone straight into the basement and she couldn't risk getting questioned again. So instead, Chloe practiced some of the vocal exercises Aubrey had taught her and worked on her English homework.

After an hour and a half had gone by, Chloe decided that she had bought enough time and made her way over to her brother's room.

She knocked on his door and he opened it a second later.

"What's up?" He asked, and Chloe smiled.

"Got any laundry?"

"Wow." Chad said, looking surprised. "Didn't think you would be so eager about it."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "You got any, or not?"

Chad smirked. "Sure do." He disappeared behind his door and reappeared a minute later with a large bundle of dirty clothing.

Chloe gawked at him. "How–?"

He looked down at the clothes and grinned. "Yeah, you might need a basket."

* * *

After struggling to shove all of her brother's clothes into the laundry basket, Chloe gradually made her way down to the basement.

It wasn't an easy task, since she couldn't really see what was in front of her, but Chloe managed to make it down there without tripping or hurting herself.

Chloe didn't look for Beca right away, rushing to put the basket down on top of the washing machine first so she could get a break from carrying the heavy load.

Once she did, Chloe came back around the stairs with a smile. "Beca?" She called. "You down here?" She walked into the smaller room with high hopes but came up short.

Beca wasn't there.

Chloe chewed the inside of her cheek as disappointment settled in again and took out her phone to check the time. She noticed it was a tad earlier than when she usually saw Beca, so she thought that maybe if she just stuck around for a little, Beca would eventually show up.

Chloe went back to the washing machine and distracted herself with the dirty clothing. She separated the light colors from the dark and stuck one of the loads in first to wash.

She strolled over to the small stack of plastic tubs and sat down, playing with her phone as she patiently waited for Beca's arrival.

* * *

The first load had finished and Chloe got up to put it to dry. She set the second load to run it's cycle and made her way back to her previous position.

It was almost seven o'clock by the time all of the clothes had finished washing _and_ drying. Chloe's phone had gone down to a ten percent charge and Beca still hadn't shown.

"Well this sucks." Chloe eventually gave up and huffed a strand of red hair out of her face as she dropped the clean clothes into the basket and languidly carried it back up the stairs.

Was it weird for her to be worried about Beca? It had been two days now that Beca hadn't been in the basement. But then again, Chloe shouldn't even be expecting her to be… right? It was none of her business what Beca did, or didn't do.

When she reached her brother's room, Chloe dropped the basket in front of his door and stomped her way into her own room.

Chad had heard the commotion and opened the door, looking down at the ground as gasped a smile.

"Thanks, Chlo!" He teased, unaware of the way Chloe just rolled her eyes.

* * *

When school ended on Thursday, Aubrey had practically invited herself over. They got to Chloe's house and wasted no time in making their way up to her room.

Aubrey was quick to make herself comfortable on Chloe's bed. "Have you been practicing?" She asked, lying on her side with her head propped up on her fist.

"Mhmm." Chloe smiled, feeling like she had already improved so much in just a few short days.

"Okay." Aubrey said, waving a hand. "Let's hear your scales."

Chloe gave her a quick nod and stood up straighter. Just as she opened her mouth to get the first note out, there was a knock on her door. Chloe looked at Aubrey and they laughed.

"Come in." Chloe said, shaking her head.

Chad stuck his face inside. "Hey, sorry to interrupt." He said. "Just wanted to let you know that I'm gonna be out with some friends tonight. Mom and dad won't be home from their seminar until later. Will you be okay on your own?"

Chloe made a face. "Chad, I'm seventeen, not twelve." But it was cute how much he cared.

Her brother laughed. "I know, I know." He said. "But I still wanted to ask, you know, with this being a new house and all."

Chloe walked up to him and smiled, positively. "Well thank you for your concern, but I'll be fine."

"Alright." Chad said. "But if you need anything, just let me know." He took out his phone and shook it. "I'm only a text or phone call away."

Chloe but back a smile as she turned her head to look at Aubrey and pushed the door closed. "Bye, Chad."

* * *

The girls took advantage of the empty house and Aubrey moved Chloe down into the living room. There was more space to work with and the small, raised platform in front of the fire place was the perfect place for Aubrey to teach her proper stage presence.

They had gone through a few song choices but ultimately agreed that Chloe sounded best when she sang "Titanium." It just came naturally to her.

After only an hour of practice this time, Aubrey declared that it was time for her to go.

"I wish I could stay longer, but I'm in charge of cooking dinner tonight." Aubrey groaned, sticking her tongue out in disgust.

It made Chloe laugh. "It's okay." She giggled. "I'll keep practicing on my own."

"You're going to do great." Aubrey tugged Chloe forward and hugged her. "I know it." They separated and Aubrey opened the front door to leave.

"Thanks again for everything!" Chloe said, watching her neighbor walk away.

"You're welcome!"

Chloe chuckled again and closed the door.

It was weird having the house completely to herself. Partly because she was used to having her family around all the time, but also because Chad was right. It was still a new house, still foreign in environment, and overall just… weird.

For a moment, Chloe thought about checking the basement to see if Beca was there, but the brunette hadn't been there for the last two days, so Chloe thought it would just be better for her to focus on her school work instead.

She made her way back up to her room and blasted her music as she sat down at her desk to work on her Pre-Calculus homework.

* * *

Chloe wasn't sure how much time had passed, but she finished all of her homework and switched her priorities over to singing.

She stood in front of her dresser mirror and sang her heart out, trying to remember everything Aubrey had taught her.

 _"_ _Shoot me down, but I won't fall–"_

 _"_ _I am titanium."_

Chloe stilled. The lyrics were right and the melody was perfect, but that was **not** her voice.

She knew that voice.

"Beca?!" Chloe yelped, twisting her neck around so fast she thought she was going to get whiplash. "Ah!" She screamed, seeing brunette standing timidly at her bedroom doorway and Beca screamed back, equally startled. "Damnit, Beca!" Chloe laughed, gripping her chest as the initial shock subsided. "You've gotta stop doing that."

"I'm so sorry!" She apologized, bringing her hands up to cover her mouth. "I wasn't trying to scare you."

Chloe narrowed her eyes at her. "What are you even doing up here? What if my family was home?"

"Yeah, sorry about that." Beca said, shrinking in place like a child being scolded. "When I came to visit the basement, I noticed there weren't any cars in the driveway. Then I heard you singing with someone downstairs and after they left, I don't know. I just… I wanted to sing with you too."

Chloe looked at her, intrigued. "You like to sing?"

Beca smiled tightly. "I don't know." She shrugged. "I never really thought about doing it before, but whenever I hear you sing… It kind of makes me wanna try it."

Chloe was touched to know that she influenced Beca in such a positive way. It made her heart feel like it was going to pop right out of her chest.

"Well that's surprising." Chloe said, trying not to giggle at the worried expression that appeared on Beca's face.

"What is?"

"That you've never really sung before." She smiled. "Your voice is really pretty."

"Oh." Beca's eyes widened and a bashful grin curved on her lips as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I don't know about that."

"No, seriously." Chloe said, stepping closer to Beca until their eyes could dance amongst each other's. "Sing with me." Beca just blinked and Chloe restarted the song. _"I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose."_ She nodded her head, cueing Beca to continue.

 _"_ _Fire away, fire away."_ Her eyes never left Chloe's as she sang.

Chloe took the next line, _"Richochet, you take your aim,"_ and they continued to alternate lines until the song was over.

They held the last note out together and mirrored each other's smile as the moment played itself out.

It was like magic.

"Wow…" Chloe said, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. "We sound… _really_ good together."

Beca looked dazed, like she was hypnotized by Chloe's eyes, but she smiled. "Yeah… we kinda did."

Chloe was felt another strong urge come up as they looked at one another. Like she wanted to touch, or maybe even **kiss** Beca, right then and there. But Chloe restrained herself. There was something else gnawing at her brain that she wanted to get answers to.

"So," Chloe started, breaking the moment to bring them back to reality. "I don't mean to pry, but–" She totally meant to pry. "Where have you been?"

Beca tilted her head to the side like a curious puppy. It was adorable. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Chloe said plopping down onto her bed with a bounce, "I went down to see you these last two days, but, you weren't there." _I missed you,_ is what she wanted to say next, but didn't.

"Oh, right. Duh." Beca said, jokingly hitting her head with a laugh. "Sorry about that. I was just… busy." She explained. "You know, with like, family stuff."

"Oh…" Something was telling Chloe that Beca wasn't telling her the truth– or the _whole_ truth, for that matter. Her answer was too simple. But Chloe had chosen to trust Beca, so she wasn't going to question it. "Okay."

"Yeah…" Beca said, looking around the room as she stuck her hands in her hoodie pocket, and rocking back and forth on her heels like she didn't know what to do next. "So… What'd I miss?" She grinned. "Anything interesting?"

Chloe searched for an answer and snickered when she found one. "Well my brother thinks you're a cat."

Beca furrowed her brow. "What?"

"Yeah." Chloe laughed. "I was outside in the backyard when I saw the basement light come on. I thought it was you, so I rushed inside and looked for you, but–" Chloe clenched her teeth and crinkled her nose at the memory. "It turned out to be my brother, Chad."

"Oh, shit." Beca said, which made Chloe widen her eyes a bit. She had never heard Beca swear before.

"He asked me who Beca was, but I lied and told him it was a cat that I found."

Beca laughed and shook her head. "So, I'm a cat now?"

Chloe giggled. "Well when it comes to Chad you are." She wanted to try something then, so she tested the waters. "I mean, I could always just introduce you guys and–"

But then Beca's expression fell. "Chloe…" And her tone became frigid.

 _Okay, that backfired._

Chloe shook her head, not wanting to make things worse. "I know, I'm sorry." She said, and looked at her, using her eyes to convey the desire she had to tell people the truth about her, but Beca's eyes stared right back, and they just looked… sad. Apologetic, even.

The energy between them had felt so high a moment ago, but now it was lower than ever, but Chloe didn't want it to stay that way. A falsifying, introverted Beca was better than no Beca, so Chloe changed the subject.

"Um, well… I'm kind of hungry." Chloe said, standing up from her bed with a gentle smile. "Wanna come with me to the kitchen?"

The transition in topic seemed to work, because Beca's previously firm expression was softening and she smiled too. "Sure."

Chloe happily led them to the kitchen, enjoying what it felt like to have Beca in the house instead of just in the basement. When they reached the room, Chloe gestured towards the chairs placed at the island counter.

"You can sit there if you want.

Beca took the chair closest to her. "Thanks."

Chloe walked to the refrigerator and opened it, jumping in place when a loud, _"Ow!"_ came from Beca, behind her.

Chloe quickly turned to look at her. "Are you okay?"

Beca's face was contorted in pain and she gently rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah… I'm fine." She muttered, failing to sound convincing. "I just get really bad headaches sometimes."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Chloe said, her brow curving with sympathy. She reached for the freezer door. "Do you want ice or something? Pain killer maybe? I think we have Tylenol."

Beca was still holding her head, but her pain seemed to be fading. "No, it's okay." She said, less strained. "It doesn't last long." Chloe chewed her bottom lip as she helplessly watched Beca go through the wave of agony, but then Beca relaxed. "Okay." She said, bringing her hand down and smiling at Chloe. "See? It's gone now."

But Chloe was still concerned. "You should maybe get that checked, Beca."

"Eh," she shrugged, "I'm sure it's nothing."

Chloe was astonished at how nonchalant Beca was about it. If headaches that powerful kept occurring with Chloe, she would immediately go to the hospital to get it checked. But Chloe knew she couldn't force Beca to do anything she already decided she didn't want to do– obviously– so she reluctantly accepted her response.

"Alright." Chloe said, totally still dwelling on it. "If you say so." She returned to her previous task and scanned the fridge for beverage options. "You want anything?"

"Hm?" Chloe turned her body so Beca could see the opened refrigerator. "Oh, no. I'm okay." She said. "Thank you."

"You sure?" Chloe tried again. "There's some snacks in the pantry too, if you're hungry."

Beca waved her hand, passively. "I'm good."

"Okay." Chloe shrugged. "Suit yourself." She grabbed a small, red Gatorade and closed the refrigerator door. She opened the colorful beverage and took a sip as she leaned on the island counter, facing Beca. "My friend Aubrey says drinking electrolytes keeps your vocal chords strong and healthy." She took another swig. "Amongst other things."

"Wait…" Beca said, her eyes squinting. "Aubrey Posen?"

"Yeah." Chloe grinned. "You know her?"

A flash of nervousness appeared on Beca's face, but only for a moment. "I mean, I don't really like, **_know_** her, know her, but… I know her." She furrowed her brow and looked to the side, like she couldn't even comprehend what she had just said. Beca looked back at Chloe. "Does that make sense?"

Chloe laughed and nodded. "I get what you mean."

"Okay," Beca breathed, "good."

"She's helping me prepare for my choir audition." Chloe said. "Oh! Which reminds me." She reached into her back pocket and pulled out the folded piece of paper Aubrey had given her. "Check it out." She handed it to Beca, who read it to herself, and widened her eyes as she did.

"Hang on… September twenty-second?" She asked, looking up at Chloe, who nodded.

"Yeah, why?"

"When is that?" Beca seemed really eager to find out.

Chloe chuckled. "It's tomorrow, silly. What? Did you forget?" Beca didn't respond, but slowly looked back down at the page. "Is something wrong with that date, or something?"

"That's–" Beca quietly said. It looked like she wanted to cry. "That's my birthday."

This stunned Chloe. "What?" She said. "Tomorrow's your birthday? That's awesome!" Beca still hadn't moved and it was starting to worry Chloe. "Okay… you don't seem very happy about that." Chloe moved around the island so she could stand next to her. "Beca, what's wrong?"

"I, um…" A sniffle escaped Beca, but Chloe didn't see a tear. A moment later, Beca cleared her throat and put the paper aside. "I don't celebrate it anymore."

And now it was Chloe's turn to widen her eyes. "What?" She couldn't believe it. "Why not?"

Beca finally looked at her, and it pained Chloe to see her so dismal.

"I used to celebrate it as a kid." She said. "Or, at least I think I did." Beca's forehead ridged as she thought about it. "I don't really remember."

Chloe's heart was breaking for her. "Why'd you stop?"

Beca shrugged, weakly. "My foster parents didn't celebrate it, so, I just stopped celebrating it too. Chloe could feel her eyes burning and a tear snuck it's way out and rolled down her cheek. Beca furrowed her brow at her. "Are you crying?" Without speaking a word, Chloe swiftly spun around and opened the food pantry. "Chloe?" She took out a twinkie and placed it on the counter in front of Beca, quickly turning around again to walk towards the kitchen drawers. "What are you doing?"

After searching two different drawers, Chloe finally found what she was looking for and put the items next to the twinkie.

Beca remained quiet, simply watching Chloe as she opened the small desert and placed it on a napkin. She then took one of the items, which was a blue and white candle and stuck it into the pastry, lighting it with a red fire starter.

Beca gawked at her, bewildered. "Chloe…" She managed to say. "You really don't have to–"

But Chloe quickly silenced her by holding up a finger, another tear falling from her eye. She wiped it away and smiled.

 _"_ _Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you."_

Beca's brow curved along with her lips as Chloe sang to her.

 _"_ _Happy birthday, dear, Beca."_

Chloe could see her dark eyes glistening, and it made her feel good knowing she could do this for Beca.

 _"_ _Happy birthday to you…"_ Chloe carefully pushed the cake closer to Beca and grinned. "Make a wish, birthday girl."

Beca huffed a short laugh. "…I wish I wasn't–"

A car door suddenly slamming shut startled both girls and Chloe felt her chest tighten.

"Shit." She muttered. "Someone's home." Chloe rushed to one of the front windows and peeked through the curtain to find her parents approaching the house.

When she went back into the kitchen, Beca was gone, and the smoke from the blown out candle evaporated into the air.

* * *

 **Author's 2nd Note: My, my, my, this story just keeps getting weirder and weirder!**

 **Follow me on Tumblr at: not-so-average-fangirl**

 **Stay tuned for more! ;)**


	4. Who Are You Talking To?

**Author's 1st Note: Sorry this one took a little longer to post. Been a bit busy with work.**

 **Thank you so much for all of your messages and comments! I love hearing from you guys and the theories you have been sending my way are _awesome!_ **

**Hope you guys enjoy the** **chapter! :)**

* * *

Another satisfying dream of Beca faded away as the blaring alarm woke Chloe up from her deep slumber. It was only a little disappointing, however, because even though she and Beca are a happy, open couple in her dreams, the possibility of still having that with her someday in real life, drove Chloe to hopefully see it come true.

Chloe sat up in her bed with a sleepy groan, suddenly remembering that it was Friday.

"Oh, shit!" Chloe said, throwing the white covers off of her body. "My audition's today!" She ran to her closet– wasting a good half hour on finding the "perfect" outfit,– and rushed to the bathroom to finish getting herself ready.

* * *

Once Chloe had made it to school, she walked into her English class and found Aubrey already staring at the door expectantly.

"Chloe!" Aubrey waved her in and Chloe smiled as she sat down next to her.

"Hey."

"Are you excited?" Aubrey asked.

Chloe knew exactly what she was talking about and grinned widely as she gripped onto her chair. "Oh my God, I'm _so_ excited." Her smile then turned sheepish. "And honestly, a little nervous."

"Ooh,"Aubrey said, "you know what works great for nerves?"

Chloe shook her head. "What?"

"Pepto Bismol."

"Um…" Chloe said, confused. "How does that help, exactly?"

"Well, whenever I get nervous I always feel like–" Aubrey lurched forward and quickly pressed a fist to her lips. Chloe jerked back with wide eyes, but relaxed once Aubrey straightened up again and released a breath. "Never mind."

* * *

Lunchtime came around, and when Chloe, Stacie, and Aubrey joined the rest of the girls at their table, Emily nearly choked on the Gusher she was eating when she saw Chloe.

"Chloe!" She grinned widely. "I'm so excited you're auditioning today. Are you ready?"

Chloe giggled as she took her, now usual, seat next to Aubrey. "Yeah, I think I'm ready. Aubrey's been helping me prepare." She looked at her best friend with a smile and the blonde grabbed her hand.

"I **know** you're ready." Aubrey said, and a squeal from Emily drew their attention back to her.

"Wanna go over your song?" She asked Chloe, and the redhead smiled.

"Sure."

* * *

When the last bell of the day rang, Chloe could feel her heart beating faster in her chest. She glared at the clock: _3:00_

Chloe had exactly **one hour** until she would be faced with a room full of strangers ready to judge her on her singing abilities.

No pressure.

Chloe sighed and stood up from her chair, collecting her things before making her way to the other side of the school where the choir room was.

* * *

Chloe was surprised to find so many students already lined up down the hallway. She had never known choir to be a popular activity, but it clearly seemed to be here at Northview.

Chloe tightened her grip on the strap of her bag and walked up to get her spot in line. Anyone auditioning was required to sign in their names first, then move to the auditorium across the hall, where the actual audition was going to take place.

Chloe had a fair amount of students in front of her, so she took out her phone to entertain herself.

After eventually moving up three people, the sound of someone shouting from the boy's bathroom down the hall captured everyone's attention. Chloe looked up to see what was going on.

"Un-fucking-believable!" Jesse Swanson roughly pushed open the bathroom door and another boy with curly hair came out shortly after him, looking terrified. "You don't believe me either!"

"I didn't say that!" The other boy cried, reaching for his friend. "Jesse, wait a second."

"No, Benji!" Jesse snapped, jerking his hand away. "You're just like the rest of them." And although his words were mean and aggressive, Chloe could sense the pain layered beneath them.

Benji's eyes were starting to glisten with tears and he shook his head, weakly. "Jesse, I–"

"Forget it." Jesse groaned and turned around to stomp down the other side of the hallway. He passed the line of auditioners, who had become an unexpected audience, and scowled. "What are you guys lookin' at, huh?" He frowned. "Show's over."

Chloe watched him leave, whispers and comments erupting amongst the other students as he did. She actually felt kind of sorry for him and wondered why he had turned into such a harsh person. Chloe looked back down the other way to see Benji with his head down and he slowly walked away.

* * *

Once Chloe signed herself in, she walked over to the auditorium and looked around. There were a handful of students sitting amongst the first three rows, and when Chloe's gaze traveled higher, she recognized a group of them.

"Guys?" Chloe said, squinting her eyes as her friends smiled and waved at her. Aubrey stood up and gestured for Chloe to join them. "What are you doing here?" She asked, swiftly moving through the empty rows of seats to get to them.

"We came to support you, of course." Stacie smiled.

"Yeah!" Emily excitedly added.

Chloe's heart swelled, and she held back tears that so desperately wanted to escape. It felt good having such genuine and supportive friends in her life. But it was not the time to cry. After all, her makeup would be ruined. Chloe made a mental note to ball her eyes out later when she got home.

"Thank you, guys." Chloe smiled. "This really means a lot to me." She sat down next to Ashley and put her bag in her lap.

"You're going to be great, Chloe." Ashley said, and Chloe looked at her.

"Thanks, Ash–" She paused. "Wait… which one are you again?"

"I'm Jessica."

The blonde sitting next to her leaned forward. "No, you're Ashley. _I'm_ Jessica." She corrected.

Ashley thought about it for a moment. "Oh, yeah." She said. "You're right." And Chloe just laughed.

* * *

It took about thirty minutes after the start of the audition for Chloe's name to be called, and she gulped as her body started to tingle with nerves.

This was it.

"Oh my gosh…" Chloe breathed, gripping the arm rests of her chair, her chest suddenly tightening. "It's my turn."

Aubrey got up from her seat and took hold of Chloe's hands as she crouched down in front of her. "Hey," she said, squeezing her hands, "you are going to do great." She smiled softly. "You've got this, Chloe." And then she squeezed again. "You've got this."

Chloe stared at Aubrey and found her courage somewhere in her emerald green eyes. She was right. Chloe had this. She had been preparing for it all week.

This was her time to shine.

"Chloe Beale?" The choir instructor called again.

Chloe grinned and nodded at Aubrey before standing up confidently. "I'm here!" She said, raising her hand.

The older, blonde woman turned around. "Ah, there you are." She crossed her name off of the list she was holding. "Please come to the stage."

Chloe took in a breath and looked at her girls one more time before slipping through the row and eagerly walking up to the stage.

She blinked a few times to focus her eyes once the stage lights hit her face. The audience was dark, but the choir instructor sat in the front row, and Chloe could see she was smiling at her.

"Hello." The woman said. "My name is Mrs. Abernathy-McKadden, but I usually let my students call me Ms. Gail."

"O-Okay." Chloe smiled. That was kind of funny.

"What will you be singing for us today?"

Chloe swallowed. "Titanium." She said. "By David Guetta."

Ms. Gail pouted her bottom lip as she nodded. "Excellent choice." She wrote something down and Chloe resisted to urge to fiddle with the hem of her shirt. "Okay!" Ms. Gail said, looking up at Chloe again. "Ready when you are."

Chloe nodded and closed her eyes to anchor herself. She thought about the night before and how it had felt to sing with Beca. She thought about the way Beca's dark blue eyes had been staring at her in awe while their voices harmonized. It brought peace to Chloe's mind.

With a wide smile, Chloe reopened her eyes and started to sing.

* * *

"Oh my stars, that was great, Chloe!" Emily beamed, running up to Chloe to squeeze her into a hug.

"Thank you." Chloe mumbled, her lungs collapsing from the pressure.

Compliments and giggles continued as the rest of the girls joined in. Chloe was on cloud nine and savored the moment so she could remember it forever.

"You guys…" Chloe whimpered, wiping a tear from her eye.

Aubrey placed a hand on her shoulder. "I knew you would be great."

Chloe tilted her head to the side to press her cheek into Aubrey's hand. "Thank you."

"Let's celebrate!" Stacie suggested, erupting cheerful agreements amongst the girls.

Aubrey gasped. "Yes!" And she grabbed Chloe's other shoulder. "We're going to take you out."

* * *

The girls chose to go to their local ice cream parlor, a suggestion that had been originally made by Fat Amy, but was quickly supported by the rest of the girls. Well, except for Aubrey. She argued that dairy caused congestion, which wasn't good for singing, but she eventually gave in when Stacie persuaded her that a little bit wouldn't hurt.

When Chloe got home, later that evening, she was excited to tell Beca about her day. She greeted her parents and brother and ran up to her room to put her things away. When she went back downstairs and passed the kitchen, she stopped when she heard her mother call her.

"Chloe?"

 _Crap._

Chloe reluctantly turned around and poked her head into the kitchen, a fake smile plastered across her face. "Yeah, mom?"

Claire was stirring something in a large pot. "Where are you going? Dinner is almost ready."

"Okay." Chloe said, distressed to realize that this meant she wasn't going to have much time with Beca. "I just need to get some laundry I left downstairs. I'll be back."

"Alright."

Chloe didn't want to waste anymore time and hurried her way down to the basement.

"Beca?" She called, coming around the stairs to find the brunette smiling, sitting on the small stack of plastic tubs.

"Hey, you."

Chloe grinned and approached her. "Happy birthday." She sang and Beca smiled.

"Thanks for remembering." She said.

"Of course!" Chloe beamed.

"How was your audition?"

Chloe smirked internally. She wanted to play a little game with Beca, so she dropped her positive expression and slowly lowered her head with a shrug. "I don't know…" She mumbled. "It didn't go very well."

"What?!" Beca exclaimed, suddenly standing on her feet. "What happened?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Chad had strolled into the kitchen and stuck his nose up into the air. "Mmm…" He hummed. "Smells great in here."

Claire glanced her son with a smile as she continued to stir. "Thank you, sweetie." Chad pulled out a chair from the island counter, "Oh, wait, before you sit down," Claire said, wiping her hands with a small dish towel as she turned to look at him, "Will you go grab your sister and bring her up, please? Food is ready but I think she's still in the basement."

"She is?" Chad asked, quirking his brow. "Okay." He said. "I'll get her." He stepped carefully as he walked, trying his best not to make much noise as he approached the basement.

* * *

Chloe lifted her head, and this time, she was showing her smirk. "Just kidding!" She laughed and Beca gasped.

"Dude!" She said, placing a hand on her chest. "Not cool. You scared me!"

Chloe was still laughing. "Well that's a first. You're usually the one that scares _me_."

"Chloe?" The sound of her brother's voice sent a shock wave of panic through Chloe's body. His voice didn't sound like it was coming from behind the door. It sounded like he was already **inside** the basement.

Chloe looked at Beca with wide eyes. "Hide!" She whispered, pushing the brunette in the direction of the other room. Once Beca was out of sight, Chloe spun around and yelped when she came face to face with her brother. "Chad!"

The older boy narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you doing? Who's down here with you?" He didn't wait for her answer and pushed passed her to walk into the other room.

"No one!" Chloe cried, quickly following behind him and hoping to God that Beca found a good hiding spot.

Chad turned on the light in the other room and scanned the area. There was the metal tool shelf, the boiler, and a few tall stacks of boxes and plastics tubs, but no Beca.

 _Damn, she's good,_ Chloe thought.

After coming up short, Chad turned to Chloe. "Who were you talking to?"

"I already told you," Chloe lied, "no one!"

"Chloe." Chad said, his face turning serious. "I **heard** you, okay? Don't lie to me."

Chloe sighed. Fine, she could tell him the truth. "I was talking to Beca."

Chad furrowed his brow. "That cat?" But it didn't have to be the _whole_ truth… right?

"Y-Yeah." Chloe continued. "You scared her off."

Chad stayed staring at her suspiciously, and shook his head. "You've been acting really weird lately."

Chloe crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know." He said, analyzing her skeptically. "You're just… weird."

Chloe didn't want to be interrogated any longer, and sighed, frustratingly. "Well, I don't know what you're talking about. Is dinner ready yet?"

"Yeah…" He said, questionably.

"Okay, great." Chloe smiled, walking passed him to get to the stairs. "I'm starving." She bit down on her bottom lip as she walked up. That was _twice_ now that her brother had almost busted her. If Chloe wanted to keep hanging out with Beca, then she was going to have to get smarter about it.

* * *

After that day, Chloe tried to be extra careful around her brother. She didn't want Chad getting anymore suspicions of her, so she and Beca devised ways for them to see each other without anyone noticing.

Sometimes Chloe would wait until everyone was occupied with something and sneak her way down into the basement. Other times, Chloe and Beca would plan to meet late at night while the rest of Chloe's family slept. But the best times were when Chloe was fortunately left home alone, and she and Beca could do whatever the hell they wanted.

This went on successfully for two weeks.

* * *

It was a Wednesday night when Chloe had tucked herself in and tried to get some sleep. She had made it into the school choir and the constant rehearsals were already starting to get to her. Chloe hadn't even gotten a chance to visit Beca that day.

She was exhausted.

Chloe closed her eyes and tried to relax her mind. But just before she could fully get into "sleep mode," a quiet, _"Chloe?"_ came from her doorway and her body instantly woke back up.

Chloe sat up in her bed, her eyes trying to make out the figure in the dark. "Beca?" She whispered, reaching for the lamp next to her bed, and switching the light on. "What are you doing here?" She quickly got up and pulled Beca the rest of the way in before pushing her door closed, leaving a small gap opened. "Are you crazy?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Beca apologized. "Please don't freak out."

Chloe thought she heard a creak come from the hallway, so she looked over her shoulder and quickly covered Beca's mouth. "Shh!" She whispered, staring at the black that came through the opened crack in her door. They stood there in silent panic, but no other noises came, so Chloe relaxed and removed her hand from Beca's lips. "Beca…" She said, concerned. "What are you doing here? It's late." She shook her head, her brow furrowed. "Shouldn't you be home?"

Beca looked down and fiddled with her fingers. "I… don't wanna go home." And she looked back up at her. "Can I maybe stay with you?" Chloe's eyes widened and Beca hurried to add, "Just for tonight!" Chloe looked at her. Her mouth opened but no words came out. "…Please?"

It was a lot for Chloe to take in, her brain processing too many scenarios at once. She thought about how amazing it would be to actually share a bed with Beca, and the possibilities that could come from that. But Chloe also thought about the potential consequences.

What if they got caught? What is one of Chloe's family members came into her room randomly and discovered them sleeping together? What would Chloe say?

"Beca…" Chloe sighed.

But what if Chloe could pull it off? They _had_ been doing a great job at keeping their meetings a secret so far. So, what was one more night?

Chloe shook her head and looked down, thinking about how insane it was to even consider the idea.

Beca must have taken her silence as a rejection and started walking towards the door. "I'm sorry." She said. "This was a bad idea."

Chloe reacted quickly and grabbed hold of her hand, stopping her. "Wait." She looked down at their fingers and slowly intertwined them. Her thumb caressed Beca's skin and Chloe smiled as she hummed a short laugh. "Always so cold." Beca watched her and Chloe gently pulled her back. "You can stay."

Beca smiled. "Really?"

Chloe nodded. "Mhm. I'll set my alarm a little earlier so we can sneak you out before anyone else wakes up. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Beca said, the smile never leaving her face. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Chloe kept their hands together and led them to her bed. She reluctantly let go when she had to walk over to the other side, and grabbed her cellphone from the nightstand so she could change the alarm.

Beca sat down on the bed and casually looked around. "Ya know, I've never said it before, but I really like what you've done with your room." Chloe couldn't see her face, but it sounded like she was smiling. "It's so different…" It was quieter than her previous sentence and Chloe wasn't sure she was supposed to hear it.

But she did.

"Different from what?"

Beca tensed. "O-Oh, nothing." She said. "I just meant it looks different than it had when this place was empty. That's all."

Chloe squinted her eyes the slightest bit and put her phone down. "Okay…" She started to get herself under the covers and watched as Beca timidly did the same. It was like she was scared or something. Chloe thought maybe she was just nervous.

Once Beca finally settled, she turned in place and faced Chloe.

"Hi." She said, smiling.

Chloe smiled back. "Hi." She noticed Beca was still wearing her hoodie, so she reached for the zipper in an attempt to help her take it off. "You don't wanna sleep with this thing on, do you?"

But Beca brought her hands up to stop her. "Please don't." Chloe's brow furrowed slightly, as her eyes asked a silent question. "It… makes me feel safe."

"Oh." Chloe said, slowly taking her hands back. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay." Beca insisted. "It's also really comfy."

Chloe smiled and reached back to turn off her lamp. The room went dark and Chloe snuggled a little closer to the brunette. "Goodnight, Beca." She said. She couldn't see it, but Beca was smiling at her.

"Goodnight, Chloe."

Chloe cherished what it felt like to have Beca lying next to her. It felt like a dream come true. She closed her eyes, cozy and comfortable, finally ready to get some sleep and completely unaware of her brother watching through the small gap in her door.

* * *

 **Author's 2nd Note: Ohhhh, shit.**

 **Hit me up on Tumblr at: not-so-average-fangirl.**

 **Stay tuned for more! x)**


	5. A Staggering Truth

**Author's 1st Note: Oh my gosh, you guys... Are you ready? Are you ready for what's about to happen in this chapter? ARE YOU?!**

 **I don't want to spoil anything, so I'm not sure how to put this, but *Warning.* This chapter gets a little intense.**

 **Thank you all so much for your comments and messages! They really do mean a lot to me.**

 **Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **Brace yourselves...**

* * *

When the sound of her early alarm woke Chloe up from her slumber, she remembered the mission she had set for herself the night before and rolled over to wake Beca up. When she opened her eyes, however, all Chloe could see were empty sheets.

She sat up and looked around her room. "Beca?" But no response came. Chloe assumed Beca had left even earlier than what she had set her alarm for and she sighed disappointedly.

It would have been nice to have woken up together.

Chloe stretched out her arms with a yawn and turned in place to lazily dangle her legs over the edge of her bed. She took a moment to sit there with her thoughts, pondering the memories of the night before, and wishing she could spend the entire day with Beca. But Chloe groaned when she remembered why she couldn't.

School.

Chloe dropped her head back to stare at the ceiling, wishing there was a way for her to stay home.

Wait a second... maybe there **was** a way!

Chloe gasped when an idea struck her and she quickly got out bed. Quietly, Chloe made her way downstairs and into the kitchen to grab a yogurt, along with some crumbled granola pieces, and rushed back up to her room.

There was still some time before Chloe's parents and brother would wake up, so she took advantage of the opportunity and got herself ready for the performance she was about to give.

Chloe walked to her makeup station and sat down. She took out a foundation that was lighter than her skin tone, and blended a thin layer of it onto her face. Chloe then took out a rose colored blush and used it to darken under her eyes.

Once her disguise was complete, Chloe grabbed the yogurt and granola, and hid the items behind the toilet of the second floor bathroom. She checked her phone to see how much time had passed and realized she still had half an hour left.

So with that, Chloe went back to her room, slipped herself under the covers, and waited.

* * *

Chloe knew her mother had a habit of checking in on her every morning before she went downstairs to work. So when her usual knock came from Chloe's door, Chloe switched on her acting skills and began groaning in fictitious pain.

"Chloe?" Claire called, opening the door to find her daughter hunched over and clutching her stomach. "What's wrong, honey? Are you okay?" She approached her and Chloe shook her head.

"No…" She mumbled, still looking down. "I think…" Chloe lurched forward. "I'm gonna–" Chloe quickly got out of her bed and ran to the bathroom. She knew her mother would follow, so she closed the door behind her and took out the food she had previously hidden.

Chloe mixed the pieces of granola into the yogurt and dumped some of it into the toilet. She could hear her mother approaching, so she scooped the rest of it into her mouth and swiftly discarded the container into the trashcan before kneeling down.

Chloe waited another moment until her mother finally came through the door. "Chloe, are you alright?"

Chloe turned away and "threw up" the yogurt into the bowl, arching her back and crying out sounds of hurling as she did. She emptied her mouth and finished her performance with a groan, slowly turning back around to look at her mother in false exhaustion.

"Oh my gosh, sweetie." Claire said, her brow furrowed with concern as she placed her palm on Chloe's forehead. "You are a little warm." Chloe hoped her makeup wouldn't come off where her mother was touching her face, but luckily her inspection didn't last long. "What did you eat yesterday?" Claire moved to look over Chloe's shoulder, but Chloe quickly reached back and flushed the evidence.

"Ew, mom." Chloe said. "Don't look in there. That's gross."

Claire tried not to laugh. "I'm sorry. I'm just concerned for you. Do you want to go to Urgent Care?"

Shit. That was definitely **NOT** where Chloe wanted this plan to go.

Chloe wobbly stood up. "No, no. I'm okay." And she hunched her shoulders weakly. "I think it might just be one of those twenty-four hour food poisoning things."

Claire eyed her. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, mom." Chloe nodded, reassuringly. "Don't worry. If I feel like puking again at school, I'll just run to the nearest trashcan." Chloe was lining up the pieces and hoped her mother would take the bait.

"Oh, no." Claire said, her voice suddenly becoming more firm. "You're not going to school today, little missy." And she totally did. "You need to stay home and rest." Claire spun Chloe around and guided her back to her bed. Chloe tried not to smirk. "You can go back to school tomorrow if you feel better.

They got to Chloe's room and Claire gently tucked her daughter back into her bed. "Okay?"

Chloe smiled. "Okay."

 _Yes!_

After making sure Chloe was comfortable, Claire walked out the door and turned as she held on to the knob. "Your father and I will be leaving around ten o'clock to show some houses and visit the other office. Think you'll be okay by yourself until Chad gets home from school?"

Holy shit. Chloe was going to have the house to herself for **hours!** This was great.

Chloe tried her best to hide her excitement. "Yeah." She said, calmly. "I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Alright." Claire smiled. "I'm going to get you some crackers and water. I'll be back."

Chloe gave her a small nod, "Thank you," and when her door clicked shut, Chloe kicked her feet and quietly squealed in celebration.

Her plan actually worked!

* * *

Following through with her promise, Chloe's mom had come back and brought her a bottle of water, along with three packets of saltine crackers. After thanking her, Chloe went back to relaxing and playing on her cell phone until she heard another knock on her door.

"Come in." She said, hiding her phone under the covers and readjusting her position so she looked more infirm.

The door opened and Chad crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned on the doorframe. "What's wrong with you?"

It wasn't his usual, caring tone, but Chloe thought maybe he just hadn't slept well. "I've got food poisoning."

"Food poisoning?" Chad repeated, his brow quirking. "From what? I ate the same things you did yesterday, and I'm fine."

Chloe shrugged. "I don't know. I would show you my vomit from earlier, but I already flushed it down the toilet." Chloe didn't know why Chad was so suspicious of her lately. Well… granted, yes, she had totally been keeping a pretty big secret from him, but **still**. Was she really that easy to read?

Chad tittered. "You just wanna stay home."

Chloe gasped. "Why would I lie?" It was weird getting defensive about it, because she knew she totally _was_ lying.

"I don't know." He said, simply. "Why would you lie?" His innocent tone had a double meaning, Chloe could tell. Like he already knew the answer. The **real** answer, and it made Chloe's throat clench with worry.

Chloe narrowed her eyes at him, but before she could say anything else, Claire appeared behind him.

"She's not feeling too well today." Claire said, rubbing her son's shoulders as she smiled sympathetically at Chloe.

"Yeah, I can see that." Chad said, his eyes never leaving his sister's. Chloe made a mental note to ask him about his strange attitude later.

"Come on," Claire said, "let her rest."

With one last disapproving glare, Chad slowly closed the door and finally left Chloe alone. There was a disturbing ache in the pit of her stomach, warning Chloe that things with her brother weren't right.

But instead of dwelling on it, Chloe chose to ignore it.

* * *

It was nine forty-five when Chloe's mom came back into her room to let her know that she and her father were leaving and wouldn't be back until the evening.

After they had left, Chloe took her pillow and blanket down to the living room and got herself comfortably situated on the couch.

Chloe had never played hooky before, but as she munched on some Lucky Charms with her blanket wrapped around her as she watched her backed up show recordings, Chloe couldn't help but giggle at how great it felt.

Maybe she should play hooky more often.

* * *

Three episodes, two Pop-tarts, and a glass of milk later, Chloe got up to put the dishes in the sink and the wrappers into the trash. As she walked towards the kitchen, Chloe heard a _'thud'_ come from the basement and she gasped a smile at the sound.

"Beca!" Chloe ran to leave her items in the kitchen and wasted no time in getting into the basement.

Chloe opened the door but didn't even get a chance to go down when she was greeted with Beca grinning up at her from the bottom step.

"I was going to surprise you." Beca chuckled, taking a step up the staircase.

Chloe was still smiling, but furrowed her brow. "Shouldn't you be getting homeschooled right now?" Beca was taking another step, but stopped and tilted her head. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm _really_ happy that you're here, but–" Chloe shook her head, confused. "How do you play hooky when you're homeschooled?"

"Oh," Beca laughed, continuing her previous step. "I don't get homeschooled on Tuesdays or Thursdays." She made it two steps down from Chloe and smiled softly as she waited for the redhead's response.

Chloe really didn't know much about how homeschooling worked. "Really?" She asked, and Beca nodded with a hum. "Well that's cool." So she didn't question it. "I wish I only had school three times a week." They shared a laugh and Chloe took a step back so Beca could come the rest of the way up.

"Shouldn't _you_ be in school right now?" Beca playfully countered, walking passed Chloe to stand in the hallway.

"Yeah, about that…" Chloe closed the door and faced Beca, finding herself cut off when the brunette's eyes practically popped out of their sockets.

"Dude!" Beca said, scanning Chloe's face. "Are you feeling okay?"

At first Chloe didn't understand what Beca was referring to, but then she remembered about her makeup and laughed. "Oh, I'm fine." She giggled, wiping three fingers across her cheek and showing them to Beca. "It's just makeup."

Beca looked at her, confused. "Okay…" She drawled out. "Why did you do your makeup like that?"

"Well," Chloe smiled, leaning closer to Beca, "how else was I supposed to convince my parents that I was sick and needed to stay home?" She wiggled her eyebrows with a smirk and Beca's jaw dropped.

"What a rebel."

"Impressed?" Chloe flirted, and Beca grinned.

"Very."

Chloe laced their hands together, happy to see Beca had grown more comfortable with her since she didn't flinch whenever Chloe touched her anymore. "Come on." She smiled and pulled Beca along with her. "Let me wash this disguise off and then we can hangout together."

Chloe led them to the first floor restroom and spent about five minutes washing and wiping her face. Once she was rid of the sickly colors, Chloe was left with nothing but her natural self.

"Okay." She chirped, drying her face with a towel as she exited the bathroom. "All done."

Beca's eyes went wide again, but this time, in awe. "Wow…" She said, quietly, the corner of her mouth twitching upward for the slightest second. "I've never seen you without makeup before."

Her comment immediately made Chloe self-conscious about herself and she looked away as a blush crept across her cheeks. "O-Oh, I, um–"

"You look beautiful."

Chloe's gaze instantly flew back to Beca's and her heart skipped a beat. "Thank you." After a moment of consideration, Chloe stepped forward until she was mere inches away from Beca's face. The brunette stared at her nervously and swallowed. "You know…" Chloe said, looking down at Beca's lips. "When you say things like that," she leaned forward a little more, "it makes me really want to kiss you." Chloe hesitated for another moment and searched Beca's eyes for any hint of opposition. When she didn't find any, Chloe slowly closed hers and moved another inch to let their noses touch.

But just as a spark ignited between them when their lips brushed against each other, Beca jerked her head back. "We can't.

Chloe's body tensed and she reopened her eyes. "What? Why not?"

Beca refused to look at her, "We just…" and shook her head, "we just _can't_ , okay?"

Chloe didn't understand why Beca was acting this way, but she wasn't going to give up that easily. "Beca…" She said, felling a pressure build up in her eyes as she entwined their fingers together again. "Hey, look at me." Beca didn't at first, but eventually gave in and made eye contact with her. Chloe smiled. "I don't care that you have secrets. I don't care that you have foster parents." She squeezed her hands. "I don't care that you like hanging out in my basement." And she laughed. "Or that you wear the same hoodie every single day." Beca just continued to stare at her. "But I do care about _you_." Chloe moved closer, but made sure to stay at a comfortable distance this time. "I… I really like you, Beca."

Beca's eyes were shining as much as Chloe's felt like hers were and Beca furrowed her brow. "I–" She gasped. "I really like you too, Chloe. I do. But I–"

"So then, what's the problem?" Chloe tried again.

She watched as Beca's face grooved and crumpled with sadness, almost like she was in physical pain, and a tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm sorry." She shook her head again, and Chloe didn't even feel the moment their hands had separated. "I'm so sorry. I should have never spoken to you."

Chloe felt like a knife was being pushed through her chest. "What? Why would you say that?" Beca took a step back but Chloe followed her. "Beca."

Beca looked like she was about to break and wiped the tears off of her face in frustration. "We can't be together, Chloe!"

Chloe flinched at her words, helplessly watching as Beca turned and ran towards the basement. "Beca!" She immediately followed behind the brunette, but by the time Chloe reached the bottom of the steps, Beca was gone.

Chloe stood there looking around in disbelief. "What the fuck?" And fell back onto a wall, letting gravity drag her the rest of the way down until she was sitting on the dirty floor.

She quietly cried to herself as she shook her head at the ceiling, and she wondered how the hell things could have gone so wrong so quickly.

* * *

After sulking in the basement for God knows how long, Chloe went back upstairs and grabbed a small carton of ice cream, a bag of Doritos, two packets of gushers and a water bottle, and plopped herself back onto the couch.

She balled her eyes out and stuffed her face with the junk food as she regrettably watched a handful of romantic comedies back to back.

Why couldn't she and Beca have what those movie characters had? Why couldn't their situation be normal? Why did Beca always have to push her away? What was she so afraid of?

The constant questions gave Chloe a headache, and after eventually finishing the snacks, Chloe curled up into a ball and resorted back to her sulking mood for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

Chad was the first person to come home. Chloe had heard him come in, but she didn't acknowledge him until he walked by the couch.

"Hey." Chloe muttered, her eyes still fixated on the screen.

Chad placed his hands on his waist and he analyzed the pile of wrappers left on the ottoman. "Interesting selection for someone suffering from a stomach bug."

Chloe sighed, but still didn't look at him. "I'm not really sick, okay? I just wanted to stay home today."

"Yeah, I know." Chad said, picking up the remote and shutting the tv off without Chloe's permission.

"Hey!" She yelled, sitting up and finally looking at him. "I was watching that."

"We need to talk." Chad moved around the ottoman to try and sit next to his sister.

Chloe groaned. "I'm really not in the mood right now."

"Well, too bad." Chad said, nudging Chloe's legs out of the way so he could sit. "This is important."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "What's so important?"

"I saw you last night."

And then everything stopped.

"W-What?" Chloe choked, her eyes wide as her heart started to pound harder in her chest. "When?"

Chad eyed her. "You know when."

And he was right. Chloe knew **exactly** when he was talking about. An impulsive defensiveness struck within her and Chloe found herself growing angry.

"You were _spying_ on me?"

"Chloe, listen. You have to know that I–"

"What the hell, Chad? Are you serious?"

Chad grabbed ahold of Chloe's shoulders to silence her. "Chloe! Listen to me! You're missing the point."

Chloe shoved his arms away and crossed her own. "And what point is that, exactly?"

"I…" Chad sighed and sat back as he pulled out his phone. "I took a picture of you."

Okay… now that **_really_** pissed Chloe off. "You did ** _what?!_** _"_

"Look, I had to, alright? You were acting so weird lately and I kept finding you in odd situations." His tone relaxed then. "I was on my way to use the bathroom last night and I heard you talking. I wanted to know who you were talking to, so I peeked through your door."

Chloe knew at this point she was completely busted, so there was no point in lying about it any longer. Her shoulders sank as she released a long breath. "Okay." She said. "Beca isn't really cat, alright? She's this girl I met here in our basement and I liked her, so I didn't tell you guys about her."

"Chloe…"

"I know this sounds really weird and stupid, but I do. I really, _really_ like her."

"Chloe."

"But it doesn't even matter anymore, because we kind of got into a fight today, and now I don't even know if she's ever going to–"

"Chloe!"

She blinked in surprise. "What?"

Chad held out his phone to her. "Look at the photo."

"Why do you want me t–"

"Will you just look at it?"

Chloe didn't understand what Chad was getting at, but she took his phone and stared at the screen.

As her eyes took in the image, Chloe felt her stomach drop. Her jaw gradually fell as her breathing increased and her brow curved as the image blurred when tears appeared in her eyes.

This couldn't be happening. It wasn't possible.

Chloe was frozen with shock until Chad brought her back with the sound of his voice. "Chloe?" She snapped out of the daze she was in and quickly got up from the couch. She was still clutching her brother's phone in her hand and ran to the basement. "Where are you going?"

Chloe had to keep blinking her eyes to clear them so she could see where she was going and rushed down the stairs.

"Beca!" Chloe screamed, her mental state going haywire. "Where are you? I **know** you're down here." Here eyes shifted around in search of the brunette until she heard shuffling come from the other room. "Beca." She watched as Beca timidly appeared from the shadows and stared at her.

"Chloe?" She said, worry washing over her face. "What's wrong?"

Chloe held up the phone, her hand shaking with emotion. "Explain this to me."

Beca couldn't see the picture from where she was standing and stepped closer to get a better look at it. It was a picture of Chloe in her bedroom smiling and extending her hand out as if she was holding on to something– or rather, some _one–_ but there was no one there _._

When it became clear what she was looking at, Beca's brow rose and she looked at Chloe. "Chloe, I–"

"Explain!" Chloe shouted, tears helplessly flowing from her eyes.

Beca looked like she was about to cry too, but Chloe **needed** an explanation. "I… I wanted to tell you, Chloe. I really did." She laughed, bitterly then and looked down. "So many times…" Beca took a moment before continuing and sighed as she willed herself to look up at Chloe again. "It was a Friday." Chloe lowered the phone and let Beca continue. "I had gotten home from school and found my foster parents waiting for me in the kitchen. Apparently someone's parent outed me and told them that I was gay." Chloe was taken aback by this, but remained silent.

Beca shook her head again as she thought about it. "They wanted to take me out of Northview and homeschool me so they could, I don't know, 'fix me?'" Chloe could see Beca was getting more emotional about it the more she spoke. "I got into a pretty heated argument with my dad about it. We were screaming and insulting each other and I remember telling them that I was going to run away." Beca paused to take a breath. She released it shakily and her eyes began glossing over again.

"I opened the basement door because I wanted to get my clothes from the dryer…" A tear fell and Beca sniffed. "I don't think he meant to, but when my dad grabbed my arm to stop me, I jerked away and accidentally tripped." More tears followed and Chloe felt herself doing the same. "I remember falling backwards down the steps…" Beca's eyes darted to the stain at the bottom of the stairs. "And I remember hearing a loud crack when my head hit the floor." Chloe felt sick to her stomach as Beca described it all. "The last thing I remember was that I couldn't move and the room was going black." Beca couldn't hold her gaze any longer and looked back down as she fiddled with the strings of her hoodie. "And then, before I knew it I… I–" Beca choked on her words, unable to get them out, but Chloe was there to say them for her.

"You died."

* * *

 **Author's 2nd Note: ... I'M NOT CRYING, YOU'RE CRYING!**

 **Omg, does anyone need a tissue? I am so sorry about that...**

 **Follow me on Tumblr at: not-so-average-fangirl**

 **Stay tuned for more! x)**


	6. Lost

**Author's 1st Note: Oh my gosh, I am so terribly sorry for the long wait you guys. I'm balancing 2, (and soon possibly 3), jobs right now, and my free time has been scarce.**

 **But don't worry! I never abandon my fics. If I ever take awhile to update, just please bare with me. An update will eventually come.**

 **I also just want to thank you guys for being so supportive and vocal about this story. It really means a lot to me and I'm so happy you guys are enjoying it.**

 **Hope you enjoy this new chapter as well!  
**

 **WARNING: There's a slight mention of blood in this chapter. If that is something that bothers you, I apologize.**

* * *

"No." Chloe said, her brow furrowed. "That can't be true." Beca just looked at her and Chloe stepped forward. "Beca, how can you be dead? I can see you!" She grabbed the brunette's elbows. "I can **feel** you. You're **real**."

Beca just looked at her with sad eyes. "But I'm not."

Chloe wanted to cry all over again. It was a lot for her mind to process and she shook her head, refusing to believe it. "This doesn't make any sense, Beca! How can this be possible if… if you're–" She didn't want to say it again. That would make it more real. "You know…"

"I don't know." Beca said with a shrug. "No one has ever been able to see me before, let alone _touch_ me. Maybe you're just–" She looked at Chloe then, a faint smile flashing at the corner of her lips. "Maybe it's cause you're special."

Chloe breathed a short laugh, appreciating Beca's attempts at making her feel a little better about the moment. "I guess this explains why you were so surprised when I saw you the first night." Beca nodded and Chloe thought back to her other memories, the dots finally connecting. "And why you were so jumpy every time I touched you."

Beca snickered. "Yeah…"

Chloe's eyes drifted lower, landing on the brown hoodie that now made sense as to why Beca had worn it everyday. Chloe reached for the zipper. "Guess this is why you never take this thing off either."

"Wait, don't." Beca said, quickly taking hold of Chloe hands to stop her. "You don't want to see what's underneath."

Chloe quirked a brow. "What? Are you, like, invisible or something?"

Beca's gaze dropped and she shook her head. "No."

"Okay, so… what's wrong?" Beca didn't answer, so Chloe took a step closer to her. "What don't you want me to see?"

Beca continued to look down, like she was contemplating wether or not she should tell Chloe the truth. "It's not–" She sighed. "It's not pretty."

"Beca…" Chloe gently placed her hand under the brunette's chin and slowly lifted her head up so she could look into her eyes. "If you really don't want to show me, then, that's fine. But Beca," Chloe smiled softly, "I want you to know, that, whatever you've got hiding under here–" She tugged on the front of Beca's jacket. "Won't scare me away."

Beca starred at her, her eyes widened and darting back and forth between Chloe's. She was searching for an official conformation. Once Chloe nodded her reassurance, Beca finally decided to trust Chloe.

To **fully** trust her.

Chloe patiently waited until Beca gave her the "go-ahead," and she placed a hand on the zipper and looked at her. "It's okay, Becs." Beca nodded softly and Chloe took that as her cue.

She slowly pulled the small, silver link down it's path, until the hoodie was split in half. Chloe's eyes flicked to Beca's for a moment as she hesitated, but then she took hold of each side of the jacket and held her breath. When she finally pulled it apart, Chloe gasped at what she found.

A large, vividly crimson and circular stain was evident on Beca's white t-shirt, right over her heart– or where her heart _would_ be if… she were alive. Chloe had an impulse to reach out and touch it, but she restrained the urge and bit down on her lip instead as she stared at the brutal injury.

"Told you it wasn't pretty."

Chloe looked up to meet Beca's eyes. "Oh, Beca…" Chloe gave in to her temptation and cautiously moved one of her hands over the wound. Beca had flinched at first, but then she relaxed and allowed Chloe to touch her. "I don't understand." Chloe said, gently analyzing the bloodied mark. "I thought you said you fell down the stairs?"

"I did." Beca said, but Chloe was still confused as to how that could have resulted in a stab wound. There was nothing sharp around the stairs that would have caused such an injury.

"Then how… How did you–"

"I don't know."

An impossibly heavier weight sank in Chloe's heart and she held back tears as she took hold of Beca's face. "I am **so** sorry this happened to you."

Beca shrugged, weakly. "It is what it is."

"No." Chloe said, firmly, shaking her head. "You didn't deserve this. This should have never happened." Beca gave her a soft smile but remained silent. Another curious question came to Chloe's mind, then, and she couldn't help but ask it. "Beca…" She said quietly, regaining the brunette's gaze. "If-If you're…" Chloe eyed her nervously. "If you're a ghost, then… how come you haven't, you know… moved on?"

"O-Oh, I, um… I don't–" Beca looked down at the ground. "I don't know where I am."

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked, confused. "You're in the basement of your old house."

"No, what I mean is–" Beca brought her head back up to look at Chloe and it appeared as though she was about to cry again. "I don't know where my body is. I'm lost." Chloe's brows rose as her jaw dropped, finally understanding. "I **can't** leave. I've tried."

And just when Chloe didn't think this topic could get any heavier, it did. Beca was basically a prisoner trapped in her own past. A miserable and heartbreaking past that shouldn't have happened to anybody. "Oh…"

The sound of heavy footsteps coming down the stairs made both girls jump and snap out of their conversation. It was Chad. He stopped midway on the steps and stared at his sister. "Chloe?"

"Chad." Chloe smiled, relieved that for the first time, in a while, she could be completely honest with him. "This is Beca." She grabbed hold of Beca's hands for emphasis and grinned, but Chad just looked confused. "The **real** Beca." She clarified.

Beca smiled at the older boy, but when Chad's eyes continued to dart around, she leaned a little closer to Chloe. "Chlo…" She said. "I don't think he can see me."

Chloe's brow furrowed as she looked at the brunette, and then looked back at her brother. "You **do** see her, Chad… don't you?"

Chad looked at her, the answer clear on his face as he shook his head. "I don't see anyone in here but you."

"What?" She looked at Beca again, who was looking back at her with sympathetic eyes. "I don't understand. This doesn't make sense." Her eyes started to glisten. "Chad, I'm not crazy."

"Hey," Chad said, coming down the rest of the stairs to approach her, "I don't think you're crazy." He glanced at Chloe's hands, which to him looked like they were cupping air, and then he looked to where Beca would be standing. "What does she look like?" He suddenly asked, surprising them both.

Chloe smiled and kept her eyes on Beca as she replied. "She has long brown hair that comes down passed her shoulders." Beca smiled back at her and the redhead continued. "Her eyes are a unique shade of blue." Chloe titled her head a bit as she analyzed them. "Cobalt like."

"Nice." Chad said, mindlessly, making both girls chuckle.

"Thanks." Beca said, and Chloe looked at her brother.

"She says thanks." Chad nodded with a smile, and Chloe went back to her description. "She's wearing a white t-shirt, brown hoodie, dark jeans and black converse." Chloe chewed on her bottom lip then, completing her description of Beca in the best way she thought possible. "And she's really, really cute." Beca giggled, bashfully, and Chad quirked a brow at his sister, a smirk curving on his lips.

"Oh, yeah?" He asked, playfully nudging Chloe and she smiled as she hummed her response. "Well it's nice to meet you, Beca." Chad blindly stuck out his hand, which ended up going straight through Beca's shoulder and she and Chloe laughed. "What?"

"She's a little shorter than me." Chloe explained. "Your hand is literally going through her shoulder."

"Shit!" Chad yelped, immediately retreating his hand. "Sorry!"

Beca was laughing too and even though she knew he wouldn't hear her, she responded anyway. "It's okay, dude." She said, and she stuck out her hand in his direction. "It's nice to meet you too."

Chloe smiled. "She says it's okay and now she's trying to shake your hand."

"Uh…" Chad eyed his sister, nervously.

Chloe snickered. "Here." She guided his hand to Beca's and he gasped when the brunette touched him. "Do you feel her?" Chloe asked, and Chad nodded.

"I think so." He said. "It feels tingly… cold."

Chloe flashed a wide smile at Beca. "He can feel you!"

Beca looked like she was in awe as she stared at their hands. "He can feel me…"

"Woah." Chad said, after a moment, slowly taking his hand back. "This is so trippy." Chloe giggled next to him and he turned to her. "I can't believe you were hiding an actual person all this time. Not just a cat."

Chloe shrugged, "I mean, it wasn't the _easiest_ thing to do, but," and then she looked at Beca, "I guess it'll be easier now, though, since no one else seems to be able to see her." Chloe gasped then, a moment realization sparking in her mind. "This means we can hangout in my room more!"

Beca's eyes went wide at her sudden burst of energy and she laughed. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Well, come on, then." Chloe said, grabbing Beca's hand and pulling her along with her as she led them to the stairs. "What are we waiting for?" They giggled their way up to Chloe's room, leaving Chad alone and awkwardly standing in the middle of the empty basement.

"Okay!" He shouted, knowing Chloe probably couldn't hear him at this point. "I'll just… be here." He looked around the room, quirking the edge of his lips as he looked at the muggy environment in disgust. "Yeah, okay. I'm out." He said, pivoting around on his heel to exit up the stairs.

* * *

"Oh my gosh, this is great!" Chloe said, her mood about the whole situation officially making a complete one-eighty. She walked to her bed, turning to plop down onto to it and face Beca, who was zipping her hoodie up as she entered the bedroom. "Sorry, I mean–" Chloe corrected. "It's not great that you're–" Beca's brows raised at her, curiously. Chloe cleared her throat. "I just mean, like, it's great that we can hangout now and not have to worry about my parents seeing you." Chloe squeezed her eyes shut and scrunched her face. "Okay, that still sounded horrible."

Beca chuckled. "It's okay." She said, moving to sit next to Chloe. "I know what you mean. I'm just glad I don't have to keep this big secret from you anymore." She smiled and placed a hand on Chloe's. "Thanks for not getting scared away."

Chloe smiled back. "You could never scare me away, Beca. I–" The words got caught in her throat and Beca's eyes slightly widened. "I-I really care about you."

Beca's expression softened, then. "I really care about you, too."

Chloe looked down and stared at their joined hands, caressing Beca's cool skin with her thumb. "My parents won't be home for another hour." She said, flicking her eyes up to grin at Beca. "Wanna Netflix and chill?" She winked.

Beca gasped in mock offense. "Chloe!" She said. "What kind of girl do you think I am?"

Chloe laughed and tugged Beca forward. "Shut up." She repositioned them so they could sit up against the white headboard and took her laptop from the nightstand to place it in the empty space between them. "Don't worry." Chloe said, typing the website into the search bar. "I'll keep my hands to myself."

* * *

Beca hadn't been familiar with any of the newer movies that had been uploaded to the site, so Chloe let her pick an older one that she recognized. The hour they spent together, comfortable and casually watching a movie, was nice. It almost felt like they were a real couple.

Almost.

By the time the movie finished, Chloe's parents had gotten home. Chloe could hear them coming up the stairs and Beca quickly stood up from the bed in panic.

"Shit, what if they can see me?" She asked, but a this point, Chloe wouldn't care less if they could.

Chloe shrugged, nonchalantly. "Guess we're about to find out."

A moment later, Claire appeared at Chloe's door. She knocked before she opened it the rest of the way and smiled when she spotted Chloe sitting on her bed. "Hi, sweetie."

"Hey, mom." Chloe said, her attention more focused on Beca, whom she could still see in her peripheral vision.

"You look better." The older woman said, placing a hand on Chloe's forehead to check her temperature. "How are you feeling?"

Chloe glanced over at Beca, who was nervously chewing her bottom lip, and noticed that Claire hadn't acknowledged her. "I feel better." Chloe said, looking back at her mother. "I think I got it all out of my system."

"Well, that's good." Claire smiled, taking her hand back. "Glad to hear you're feeling better. Have you eaten anything today?"

 _Other than ice cream, chips and candy?_ "No." Chloe lied. "Not really." She could hear Beca snicker next to her, and it took all of Chloe's will power not to laugh with her.

"Okay. Well how about I make you some soup, hm? Does that sound good?"

Chloe smiled and nodded. "Yes, thank you."

Claire tucked some of Chloe's hair behind her ear and brought her hand back around to grasp Chloe's chin. "No problem, sweetie." Claire pressed a quick kiss to Chloe's forehead and stood up to walk out the door.

Once Claire was officially out of Chloe's room, Chloe turned to look at Beca, a smirk suddenly curving on her lips.

"What?" Beca asked, suspiciously.

"She can't see you."

"Yeah…?"

"So guess what that means."

Beca furrowed her brow, clearly failing to catch on to what Chloe was insinuating. "What does it mean?"

Chloe got up from her bed and approached Beca, slipping their fingers together when she reached her. "It means…" She sang, leaning forward to whisper into Beca's ear. "You can stay and sleep with me tonight and no one will know."

Beca finally understood what Chloe was getting at and she grinned as the redhead pulled back to wink at her.

* * *

When Chloe woke up the following morning, she had almost forgotten that a certain little brunette had joined her the night before. It wasn't until Chloe rolled over in her bed and slowly opened her heavy eyes to find Beca already awake and smiling at her.

It was a sight Chloe wished she could always wake up to.

"Good morning." Beca said, and Chloe smiled back.

"Good morning." She turned her body the rest of the way so she could be completely parallel with Beca. "How'd you sleep?"

"Uh…" Beca muttered, "I don't sleep."

 _Oh, yeah…_

"Right." Chloe said, feeling flustered as she shook her head. _That was stupid._ "Sorry."

Beca chuckled, softly. "It's okay."

There was a comfortable silence that fell between them as Chloe slowly reached out and gently stroked Beca's brown hair. It was such a wonderful moment. Just the two of them in Chloe's bed, smiling and indulging in each other's company.

It felt like a dream come true. Like this was what it would feel like to be in a relationship with Beca. Spending every morning together, like this one, where everything felt perfect and they could be themselves without any complications or worries.

But Chloe's fantasy didn't last, and she remembered that there was no way they could ever actually be together. Beca was dead and Chloe was alive.

They **couldn't** be together.

And that sucked.

Chloe would have stayed in that blissful moment forever if she could, but unfortunately there was something important Chloe had to get up and get ready for.

"I have to go to school." Chloe whispered, reluctantly breaking the moment, but bringing her hand down to place it over Beca's cold, but soft, cheek.

The corner of Beca's mouth slightly curved. "I know."

"I wish you could come with me." Chloe said, thoughtfully.

"I wish I could go." Beca said, quietly snickering. "It's funny. When I was alive, I would try to ditch school and wished I never had to go back. But… now that I'm dead, well…" Her eyes lowered. "Now I wish I could just see it again."

Her confession struck Chloe's heart hard. Beca was such sweet and caring person. She didn't deserve the horrible fate that had been dealt to her. It just wasn't fair.

It wasn't fair at all.

"Please don't say that." Chloe said, her brow furrowing slightly as her thumb continued to sweep back and forth across Beca's cheek.

"Say what?"

Chloe sighed. "That you're–" She still couldn't say it. She didn't want to.

"Chloe." Beca said, quietly, placing a hand on top of the redhead's to still it. "I'm dead. We can't change that."

Chloe could feel her eyes burning with approaching tears. She knew it was the truth, but she didn't want to accept it. "Why not?"

"What do you mean, why not?" Beca said. "People don't just come back from the dead."

Beca wasn't joking, but Chloe's natural instinct to lighten a darkening mood kicked in. "Well… there was this **one** guy a long time ago…" She smiled, hoping Beca would catch on. She seemed to, because Beca smiled after a moment, but it didn't last because her expression eventually fell back to it's previous one.

"Chloe. I'm serious."

Chloe looked away. "I know." She was defeated. She knew there was no way she could bring Beca back– well maybe she could, with some kind of dark magic or something, but Chloe wasn't exactly the witch type– but after thinking about it longer, Chloe's desire to help sparked her curiosity. "But there's gotta be a way I can help you somehow."

Beca shook her head. "Chloe, there's nothing you can do. I'm stuck this way. I can't change, I can't leave. I can't do anything."

A thought crossed Chloe's mind, then. She couldn't bring Beca back from the dead, but maybe there was still a way she could help make her situation better. "What if there was way I could help you move on?"

Beca titled her head to the side. "What?"

"Yeah." Chloe said, suddenly sitting up in her bed as new ideas flooded her mind. "There's gotta be _some_ way for you to leave this place and move on to… ya know–" She was struggling to say it, so she pointed to the ceiling. "Up there. I can do some research at school. Maybe that's how I can help you."

Beca gradually sat up, too, her brow slightly furrowing. "You really think you could find something?"

Chloe nodded, instantly. She wasn't certain about her theory, but she chose to have faith. "Oh, totes." She said. "There's tons of information out there on the paranormal. I'm sure I can find something that can help you."

Beca sat back and thought about it for a moment. Chloe hoped she would be okay with the idea, and more importantly, she hoped that it would work.

"Well…" Beca said. "I guess there's no harm in trying."

Her response made Chloe smile and the redhead leaned forward. "I won't let you down." She said, and pecked Beca's cheek. "I promise."

* * *

The car ride to school was somewhat… fun. Chad teased Chloe about her sleepover with her "Ghostly-Girlfriend," and although his jokes were annoying, it was also nice having his support about the whole thing. His initial reaction could have been a hell of a lot worse, and Chloe wouldn't have blamed him if it had.

When Chloe strolled into her first period class, her mind had been occupied with questions and theories about how she could help Beca. As she walked to her seat, her thoughts acted like mental blinders, and she sat down without noticing the smiling blonde next to her.

"Welcome back!" Aubrey said, startling Chloe and making her jump in her chair.

"Ah!" Chloe yelped, gripping her desk as her breathing came back down to a normal pace. She looked at Aubrey. "I'm sorry, Bree. What'd you say? My brain is–" She waved a hand around. "All over the place today."

Aubrey quirked a brow at her. "Yeah I can see that." She said. "Is everything okay? You weren't here yesterday."

Chloe nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. I just had a stomach thing." And sure, Chloe could have stuck with her bullshit story as to why she had been missing the day before, but Chloe didn't want to have to lie to Aubrey. She was already stressed enough with everything that had happened with Beca. Keeping an act up with her best friend for the entire day was not something she wanted added to that stress.

Chloe sighed. "Actually it wasn't just a stomach thing."

Aubrey furrowed her brow. "So… what was it, then?"

Chloe was silent for another moment, pondering her options as to how she would even start the conversation. But just as she finally opened her mouth to speak, the bell rang.

Aubrey seemed to have noticed this and smiled. "It's okay." She said, turning in her chair so she could face forward. "You can tell me later."

* * *

It came as no surprise to Chloe that she found herself unable to retain any information taught by their teacher that day. It was like she was on auto-pilot. The engine was running, but there was no one behind the wheel.

Aubrey had definitely caught on to this and when the period ended, she was right there next to Chloe, ready to get some answers.

"Okay, something is **clearly** distracting you today."

Chloe was putting her notebook into her bag. "Is it that obvious?"

"Uh, yes." Aubrey said. "I can see it in your eyes that your brain is running a million miles per second." Chloe stood up and Aubrey put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, talk to me. What's going on?"

Chloe wanted to tell her. She wanted to tell her everything. And she would have, but…

Chloe looked up at the large clock on the wall. They only had six minutes to get to their next class, and there was no way Chloe could explain **everything** in that short amount of time.

This conversation was going to have to wait.

Chloe shook her head. "Can I tell you about it later? It's just… a lot." She could tell Aubrey didn't want to wait, but she ultimately nodded her head in agreement and smiled.

"Okay." She said. "Do you want to talk at lunch?"

Chloe nodded. "Yeah, that would probably be better."

* * *

The day hadn't gotten any easier for Chloe. She continued to struggle with paying attention in her classes, and it didn't help that she had already been behind since she had missed the day before. She couldn't help the way her thoughts refused to think about anything but Beca. It was like she was the only thing that existed in Chloe's world.

And Chloe was a little knowledgeable when it came to the paranormal, but more so because she had always been fascinated by the topic. She knew that she would have to do a lot more research if she wanted to find a solution to Beca's entrapment.

When Chloe reached her fourth period class, she looked forward to seeing Stacie and Aubrey. After thinking so much, Chloe's brain felt fried. Engaging girl talk with her best friends was a much desired reliever.

"Hey, girls!" Chloe greeted, earning an analytical glance from Aubrey.

"Someone sounds like they're feeling better." She said, and Chloe half shrugged as she pulled her binder out of her bag.

"A little." She said. "I'm honestly still pretty stressed, but I'd rather catch up with you guys than focus on my problems."

Stacie spun around in her chair to face Chloe. "Good." She grinned. "Because I've got shit to tell you guys."

Chloe laughed and Stacie went on to explain the latest four-one-one on locker room talk. It was nice having the distraction, considering Chloe's thoughts all morning had only consisted of death. It was nice getting the chance to think about something else.

* * *

After fourth period ended, Chloe and Aubrey informed Stacie that they would catch up with her and the rest of the girls later. Once they were alone, Aubrey wasted no time in getting to the point.

"Okay, spill." She said. "What's going on with you? Is everything okay?"

Chloe chuckled, bitterly. "Well, I wouldn't say, _okay_." They were walking down the hallway, to nowhere in particular, and when Chloe spotted a quiet corner, she led them to it. "I need help with something."

Aubrey sat down on the half-wall next to her. "Okay. What do you need help with?"

Chloe closed her eyes. No matter how she put it, the truth was going to sound like something that came from an American Horror Story episode. But Chloe **did** need help with her situation, and so far, Aubrey had been one of the smartest people she had ever met.

 _Just ask her._

"Do you know how to cross a ghost over to heaven?"

Aubrey blinked, and the few seconds of silence that followed afterward felt like an eternity to Chloe. "I'm sorry…" Aubrey said. "What?"

Chloe sighed and ran her fingers through the top of her hair. "Look, if I'm completely honest with you about something, can you promise me that you won't freak out, or think that I'm crazy?"

Aubrey snickered. "I already think that you're kind of crazy."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Aubrey, I'm serious." It wasn't the time for jokes.

Aubrey seemed to finally understand that, "Oh… okay," and she pulled a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry."

Chloe shook her head. "No, it's okay. I'm sorry for being rude." She knew Aubrey was just trying to help, and it was about time Chloe let her. With one more relieving sigh, Chloe finally opened up.

She took Aubrey back to the beginning, and explained how she had met Beca and why she had to keep her a secret. Chloe then went on to describe what it had been like spending time with Beca and she had been the cause of the basement lights mysteriously turning on. Chloe finished the long story with the heavy truth that had just been revealed to her the day before, and once she was finished, Chloe found herself sitting there, anxiously scanning Aubrey's eyes for an answer to the blank expression that was expressed on her face.

Was she going to freak? Was she going to say anything at all? Chloe couldn't tell.

"Um…" Chloe mumbled, cautiously putting her hand on Aubrey's. "Was that… Was that too much?" Aubrey's mouth opened, but she still didn't speak. Chloe was starting to get worried. "Aubrey?"

Aubrey blinked. "Wow… that's–" And she shook her head. "That's…" _Unbelievable? Insane? Deranged?_ "Interesting."

 _Interesting?_

"Wait." Chloe said. "What?"

"That's incredible!" Aubrey's sudden excitement was completely unexpected, and Chloe gawked at her. "I always knew there was something up with that house. I just knew it!"

Chloe had hoped Aubrey would take the news well, but she didn't expect her to be _this_ enthusiastic about it. "So…" Chloe said, still a bit stunned. "You don't think I'm crazy?"

Aubrey shook her head. "No way!" She said, leaning forward. "And I would **love** to help you and Beca out. I love a good mystery." She sat back then, her face falling a bit as a thought seemed to cross her mind. "It's shame what happened to her." Aubrey said, not making eye contact with Chloe as she spoke about Beca. "She was weird, but she was polite whenever she saw me." Aubrey paused for a moment and softly shook her head at herself. "I should have been a better neighbor to her."

"Hey." Chloe squeezed her hand. "You know she's kind of mentioned you before."

Aubrey looked up at her. "Really?"

Chloe nodded. "Mhm. And I can tell that she doesn't think bad of you."

Aubrey smiled, her positive energy seeming to return to her body. "Well I'm glad to hear that. Thank you for telling me."

Chloe nodded again, and after another moment, asked, "So… do you know a lot about the paranormal?"

"No." Aubrey said, a grin gradually curving on her lips. "But I know someone who does."

* * *

 **Author's 2nd Note: Ooh, I wonder who it could be! ;)**

 **Follow me on Tumblr for sneak peeks and other works of mine at: not-so-average-fangirl**

 **Stay tuned for more! :)**


	7. Help

**Author's 1st Note: Youch, what a long, horrible wait I put you guys through. I'm so sorry about that! But as promised, I never abandon my fics and finally finished this chapter!**

 **Thank you all so much for your comments and support. It really does mean a lot to me.**

 **Hope you guys enjoy the chapter! :D**

* * *

"I knew there was something strange about that house!" Stacie exclaimed, equally as excited about the news as Aubrey had been when she first heard it.

"That's what I said!" Aubrey agreed, taking a seat next to the taller brunette.

Chloe and Aubrey had snatched Stacie from the rest of the girls at lunch and dragged her into the choir room. It was usually empty during this time, so it was the perfect place for Chloe to explain her predicament... again. After Chloe gave Stacie the general rundown, Stacie was quick to hop on board.

"How can I help? Stacie asked. "What would you like to know?"

Chloe just blinked, "Wow…"

Aubrey and Stacie looked at each other, "What?"

"I just–" Chloe shook her head and laughed, "I'm really surprised at how cool you guys are about this. I mean, it's not the most _conventional_ situation and when Beca told me the truth I practically had a nervous breakdown."

Stacie pouted her bottom lip, "Aww..." she said, bringing her hands up to press them over her heart. "I'm sorry you have to go through this."

Aubrey nodded in agreement and Chloe smiled.

"Well, at least I've got you two to help me." She shrugged softly, "I couldn't ask for better friends."

"Aw!" Stacie squealed, quickly standing up and tugging Chloe forward into a tight hug. Aubrey followed shortly after and wrapped her arms around both girls.

"Don't worry, Chloe," she said, squeezing gently. "We've got you."

Chloe smiled, "I know," she said, blinking away tears as they separated. "Thank you guys for the support. I really appreciate it."

Aubrey grazed a comforting hand down Chloe's arm. "Of course," she said.

It really was a blessing having friends like them. Chloe couldn't have been more thankful. It was nice knowing she no longer had to go through this situation alone.

"So, uh, Stacie..." Chloe said, getting back to business. The taller brunette nodded, "What should I do?"

Before Stacie answered, she looked at her watch.

"Well we've got fifteen minutes of lunch left," she said. "Let's go to the library. I need to research a few things before I can figure out what you should do."

Without wasting anymore time, the girls picked up their things and went straight to the library. All of the computers where in use when they got there, so Aubrey threatened one of the students to get off one of them so they could use it.

Apparently Aubrey was one of those smart, popular kids that no one messed with, so when she made her threat, the boy was up and off of the computer chair in no time.

Chloe let Stacie take the lead on the research. After all, Chloe wasn't exactly sure what she was getting into, or what she should even look up.

Stacie wanted to get some information on Beca's initial disappearance, so she typed in her full name into the Google search box and clicked on a link to an article from the local news.

Stacie read the article aloud, "Local teenager, Beca Samuels, has been reported missing since March 16th. The minor is an alleged runaway. If anyone has any information on her whereabouts, please contact local authorities." She continued to read the rest of the short article and Chloe shook her head.

"Unbelievable," she said, staring at the computer screen in shock as her eyes scanned the dismal words. "So everyone just thinks she ran away?"

Stacie was still clicking through the article, but nodded, "Pretty much."

Chloe scoffed, "That's insane," she said, growing angrier. "And the article is so short! Like, did they even bother getting more details or information on her case? It's like they don't even care that she's gone!"

"Shh!" snapped one of the librarians. Chloe cringed and whispered an apology. She didn't notice how loud her voice was getting.

Stacie and Aubrey looked at her with widened eyes.

"Sorry," Chloe said again, sighing as the anger left her body.

"No, it's okay," Stacie reassured. "I'd be pissed too."

"Yeah, me too," Aubrey added. "I mean," she glanced around and lowered her voice, "her foster parent's actually murdered her, right?"

Chloe nodded, softly, "That's what she told me," she said. "And I've seen–" Chloe hesitated. Was it okay for her to share such personal details about Beca that the brunette had only recently shared with her?

"What have you seen?" Aubrey asked.

No. Chloe wasn't going to share that. She shook her head, "Nothing. Never mind," she said. "The fact is that Beca's dead and she's stuck in that house." It still wasn't easy to say, but Chloe couldn't deny the truth any longer. "She doesn't know how to move on."

Stacie leaned back in the computer chair and grabbed her chin as she thought for a moment. Her eyes darted around while Chloe and Aubrey stood there, awkwardly glancing at each other as they waited for Stacie to speak again. Luckily Stacie had only been lost in her world for about a minute and she finally broke the silence.

"Well from what I've learned about the paranormal," she said, "sometimes souls stick around to find out what happened to them. But you said Beca already knows how she died, right?" Chloe softly nodded her head. "Okay," Stacie continued. "In that case, Beca's soul is stuck in that house because no one has found her body yet. So there ya go!" She sounded excited and satisfied with her conclusion, but Chloe didn't feel like she got a solution.

Chloe quirked a brow, "There you go, what?"

"There you go, that's how you get Beca to move on," Stacie explained. "Find her body, send her home."

Chloe was still lost, "Stacie, how am I supposed to find her body?"

Stacie shrugged, "Just ask her. She has to know where it is." Chloe sighed and closed her eyes, shaking her head. "What?"

Chloe looked at her, "Beca doesn't know where her body is, Stace. She doesn't remember much after she hit her head."

Stacie finally understood, "Oh…" she said.

"That's awful," Aubrey chimed in, after remaining silent for most of the conversation.

Chloe plopped down into the chair next to Stacie's in defeat and lowered her face into her hands, "There's no way I can help her…"

"What?" Aubrey asked.

"Yes there is," Stacie said, moving to crouch down in front of Chloe. "Hey." Chloe allowed Stacie to separate her hands, and revealed her glistening blue eyes. "We'll help you find Beca, okay? We'll find her."

Chloe huffed a bitter laugh, "How are were going to find her? She could _literally_ be anywhere."

That was a fact that could not be denied but the girls. There was no way they could possibly know where Beca's body was located.

Unless…

"Wait a minute," Aubrey said, gaining the attention of her best friends. "What if **we** talk to Beca?" she asked, gesturing between herself and Stacie.

Chloe furrowed her brow, "What?"

"Yeah!" Stacie joined. "Maybe Beca knows more than she thinks. Maybe she can give us clues that will help lead to her body."

Chloe never considered having them talk to Beca. After proving that no one else could even see, let alone _talk_ to Beca, Chloe hadn't even thought about it as a potential option. But perhaps it could work.

After taking a moment to consider it, Chloe slowly nodded her head, "I guess we could give it a shot."

Stacie grinned, "Great! We can go to your house after school."

"Uh, Stacie. We have practice after school," Aubrey pointed out, and the taller girl deflated.

"Oh, yeah," she muttered, suddenly straightening up again and looking at Chloe. "Do you think your parents would mind if we went to your house later this evening?" She wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Stacie!" Aubrey scolded, nudging the girl with her elbow.

"No it's fine, Aubrey," Chloe said, and shrugged. "It it Friday. I'm pretty sure they won't mind."

"Are you sure?" Aubrey asked, clearly still skeptical, but Chloe nodded her reassurance.

"Yes!" Stacie cheered, a little too loudly, earning herself another harsh, _"Shh!"_ from one of the other librarians. Stacie cringed and whispered, "Sorry."

The bell suddenly rang, cueing the end of lunch and the students began to pack their things and leave the library.

Chloe looked at her friends, "Okay. So after practice we'll leave together and head over to my house. Sound good?"

Stacie stood up from her crouched position, "Sounds great!" she said, smiling widely. "I'm so excited."

Aubrey had her arms crossed and shook her head amusedly at the taller girl, "You're such a nerd."

"Yeah," Stacie agreed, hitching her bag over her shoulder and flipping her hair out of her face. "But I'm a hot nerd," she winked.

Chloe chuckled and lunged forward to pull them both in for a hug, "Thank you guys so much for this," she said. "I owe you."

* * *

It wasn't any easier for Chloe to try and focus on their choir rehearsal. She couldn't wait to get home and see Beca, but she was also anxious to have Stacie and Aubrey meet her… again?

Sure they had all known of each other when Beca was alive, but Chloe wasn't exactly sure how well. Plus, if they all saw each other again, with the circumstances being as complex as they are, Chloe wasn't sure what she should expect.

Once choir practice ended, all three girls hopped into Aubrey's car and made their way to Chloe's house. Chloe had texted her parents ahead of time to see if it was okay for them to go over, and she had been right when she said that they would be okay with it.

When they arrived at the house, Chloe tried to get the girls straight to her room, but Claire had heard them come in and _of course_ just had to greet them.

"Hi, honey!" Claire grinned, emerging from the living room.

Chloe sighed, but smiled, "Hey, mom."

"How are you girls doing this evening?" It was always like Claire to start a conversation with Chloe's friends. She was polite and friendly, and as much as Chloe loved her, there were other pressing matters that they needed to attend to.

So before Stacie or Aubrey could answer Claire's question, Chloe but in, "Sorry, mom," she said, "I don't want to be rude, but we've got a project that needs to get done." Chloe started to gently push the girls up the stairs, little by little, "So, we're gonna go get started on that."

"Okay," Claire said, bringing her hands up. "Say no more. I get it."

Chloe smiled, "Thanks."

Stacie turned to wave goodbye at Claire and together the three of them hastily made their way up the stairs.

Chloe had the girls wait in the hallway as she slowly opened her bedroom door. If Beca was already in there, she didn't want to startle her or make her feel like she was getting ambushed.

Chloe peeked her head inside, "Beca…?" She looked around the room, "You in here?" After there was no response, Chloe opened the door the rest of the way and waved the girls in, "She's probably in the basement," she said. "Just hang out here for a minute while I go get her."

"Okay!" Stacie grinned, making herself comfortable on Chloe's bed. She looked at Aubrey, "This is so exciting."

Aubrey just rolled her eyes, "Yes it is," she said, nudging Stacie. "Now scoot over."

* * *

Chloe managed to sneak down to the basement without being seen by her family. As she walked down the stairs, Chloe was disappointed to find the room empty.

"Beca?" she called, making her way over to the other, smaller room. "Beca." Chloe was starting to grow somber, but then the brunette suddenly appeared from the shadowy corner next to her.

"You called?" Beca grinned, stepping closer to Chloe. "It's pretty cool being able to do that in front of you now."

Chloe giggled, "Show off." She gave Beca a brief hug but kept her hands on her shoulders when they separated. "So," Chloe said, "I've got some good news, some bad news, and–" Chloe paused. She wasn't sure if Stacie and Aubrey's presence would be a good thing or a bad thing for Beca. "I guess just some more… news?"

Beca chuckled, "Okay. Do you wanna tell me in that order?"

"Um…" _Might as well,_ "Sure." Chloe dropped her hands from Beca's shoulders and started to fiddle with her fingers as she went through it. "So the good news is, I got some friends to help figure out how to help you move on."

Beca's eyes widened, "Really? Who? Wait…" She eyed Chloe, "Is that the bad news?"

Chloe laughed, "I don't know," she said. "I hope not." Beca furrowed her brow at her, but Chloe continued, "No, the bad news is, we already did some research and still haven't found a for sure solution."

"Oh," Beca said, "I see."

Chloe could tell the not-so-great news was already bumming her out, so she hoped that the rest of the news would cheer her up. _"Buuttt…"_ Chloe sang, "the rest of the news is that my friends are here." Beca stared at her. "In my room," Chloe clarified, but Beca still didn't say anything. Chloe bit down on her bottom lip as her shoulders slowly rose into a cringing position. "They want to talk to you…"

And Chloe _finally_ got a reaction out of her.

"They **what?!"**

* * *

Chloe could hear Stacie and Aubrey chatting in her room and she turned to look at Beca before going inside.

"You sure you want to do this?"

Beca eyed her for a moment before nodding, "Yeah," she said. "Yeah, let's do this."

Chloe smiled and returned a soft nod. She slowly pushed open the door, "Guys?" Stacie and Aubrey stopped talking and look at her from their spot on her bed. "I've got Beca here with me."

"You do?" Aubrey asked.

"Awesome!" Stacie grinned, hopping onto her feet. "Bring her in."

Chloe nodded and turned her head to look at Beca again, "Here we go." She pushed the door fully open and stepped inside with Beca following behind her.

Beca timidly entered the room and Stacie immediately gasped.

"Oh my God…"

Aubrey furrowed her brow, "What?"

Stacie looked stunned. Like she had seen a ghost or something… wait.

"There she is." Stacie pointed directly at Beca and both she and Chloe looked at each other in surprise.

"What?" Chloe said, while Beca nervously grabbed onto the bottom end of her hoodie.

"You can see me?"

The corner of Stacie's mouth curved upward, "Yeah."

There was a silence of pure awe that filled the room as the girls processed the miracle displayed before them. The moment didn't last, however, because Aubrey suddenly spoke up.

"Okay…" she said. "What's going on?"

Stacie's head spun around to look at her, "You don't see her?"

Aubrey's eyes danced around, "She's already in the room?"

Stacie's brow furrowed, "Aubrey, she's **right there**." She gestured towards Beca, who was standing next to Chloe, but to Aubrey, all she saw was an empty space.

"Uh…?"

"You really don't see her?" Stacie asked.

Aubrey stared at the space next to Chloe and focused her eyes. After a disappointing moment, she furrowed her brow and shook her head, "No." Her eyes then flicked up to meet Chloe's, "I'm sorry."

If she was being honest with herself, Chloe did feel saddened by the fact that Aubrey couldn't see her. But hey, at least Stacie could, right?

"Oh, it's okay, Aubrey," Chloe said.

Beca snickered, "I'm actually not surprised," she said, crossing her arms. "She didn't really see me when I was alive either."

Chloe gasped, "Beca!"

"Ohh…" Stacie grinned, her hand coming up to her mouth so she could bite down on a knuckle. "Burn."

"What?" Aubrey asked, suspiciously. "What did she say?"

Chloe glanced at Beca, "She said she wishes you could see her but that it's nice to at least see you again."

Beca's jaw dropped, "No I didn't!"

Stacie laughed and Aubrey quirked a brow.

"No she didn't."

Chloe nibbled on her bottom lip, "Okay, you're right. She didn't." Chloe snickered as she glanced back at a pouting Beca and then looked back at Aubrey, "I'm sorry, Bree."

Luckily, the blonde just waved it off. "Whatever," she said. "I'm sure whatever she said wasn't too far from the truth."

Chloe and Stacie looked at each other with a slight grin.

Beca shrugged, "She's not wrong."

Chloe gave her a look, " _Anyway…"_ She gestured towards Stacie, "Stace, you wanted to ask Beca a few questions, so," and then she titled her head towards Beca, "here she is."

"Right," Stacie said. She was cautious as she walked towards Beca and smiled when she stopped in front of her. "It's good to see you again."

Beca seemed confused by her statement, "Really?"

"Yeah," Stacie affirmed. "Look, I know I never really talked to you in class, but I always thought you were cool."

"You guys had a class together?" Chloe asked.

Stacie nodded, "Mhm."

"English," Beca added. "I didn't think you knew I existed."

"Well, you did keep to yourself a lot," Stacie grinned, "but I knew who you were."

The smile that appeared on Beca's face was genuine and it made Chloe feel good to see her happy; even if it was just for a moment.

"Well, okay then," Beca said. "It's good to see you again, too." Stacie smiled back and Beca slipped her hands into her jacket pockets. "So… what did you want to ask me?"

"Oh, right," Stacie said, clearing her throat. "Well Chloe told me about what had happened to a you and how you're pretty much stuck in this house."

Beca sniffed a short laugh, "Yeah, it, uh–" she said, looking down. "It sucks."

"I bet," Stacie said. "Well the good news is, I **do** know a way to get you to move on."

Beca seemed to have gotten excited about her claim, but then her delighted expression shifted and was gone as quickly as it came.

"But?"

"But…" Stacie glanced at Chloe before looking back at Beca. "In order for you to move on, we…" Her brow furrowed, "we need to find your body."

Chloe felt sick to her stomach when she noticed the way Beca's demeanor deflated.

"Oh…" Beca said, her eyes lowering to the ground.

"Yeah…" Stacie said, continuing. "See the reason you're still here is because your murder hasn't been solved. Your body is missing so your soul can't rest until it's found."

Beca didn't respond, but instead, remained focused on the ground. It killed Chloe to see her so distraught, so she reached out a hand and intertwined their fingers.

Beca looked up at her and smiled. It was a broken smile, but a smile none the less, and Chloe responded with a soft squeeze of their hands.

"So," Beca said, "exactly how are you guys going to help me move on if… if I'm lost?"

"Well," Stacie said, "that's why I asked Chloe if we could speak with you. I thought maybe you could help us figure out where your body is."

Beca shook her head, "I can't," she said. "I don't remember anything that happened to me after I fell. When I try to think about it, all I see is black."

"Hmm…" Stacie hummed, grabbing her chin in thought. "Well, you remember everything that happened before, right?" Stacie asked, still hopeful. Beca nodded. "Okay, that's good. We'll start there. Can you please tell me everything you remember?"

Beca looked at Chloe, worry flashing in her eyes. Chloe knew it wasn't an easy topic for Beca to discuss and she could tell that she was hesitant.

"It's okay, Becs," Chloe said. "You don't have to tell her if you don't want to."

"No, I do," Beca quickly clarified. "It's just," she looked at Stacie, "it's not a fun story. So, uh…" Beca shrugged, "Brace yourself, I guess?"

Stacie nodded eagerly and turned to sit back down on the bed. She linked her arm with Aubrey's and cuddled up next to her, looking at Beca like a child excited to hear their Kindergarten teacher read a story to them.

Aubrey looked at Stacie, confused. "Okay, what's happening?" she asked. "I'm lost."

"Shh!" Stacie hushed. "Beca's about to tell us what happened to her."

Aubrey pouted, "Well that's not fair. I can't hear her."

Stacie rolled her eyes with a groan and surprised everyone when she unexpectedly leaned forward and kissed Aubrey on the cheek. "I'll repeat it for you later, okay?"

Aubrey's mouth slightly hung open as a blush crept across her cheeks. She was gawking at Stacie in shock, but Stacie just grinned innocently at Beca.

"Okay, tell us."

Beca was also stunned by Stacie's actions and looked at Chloe for an explanation. Chloe had no answer and shrugged as she shook her head.

"Uh," Beca said, "okay."

She went on to recount the horrible tale of how she came to be a bodiless soul and Chloe had to fight back tears as she was reminded of the brutal details. She felt her chest tighten as anger and hurt settled in her heart, but Chloe knew that she had to be strong for Beca. She had to stay focused on helping her.

Once Beca had finished, a tear rolled Stacie's cheek. One of her hands was placed over her mouth, while the other some how found it's way interlocked with Aubrey's.

The room suddenly felt thick and Chloe rubbed Beca's back comfortingly, while Aubrey squeezed Stacie's hand. She had no clue as to what had been said, but she could tell that it was pleasant.

"Are you okay?" Aubrey asked.

Stacie scoffed, "Am **I** okay?" Stacie sniffed as she wiped the tear away from her face and she stood back up. She approached Beca with open arms and pulled her in for a tight hug.

Beca squeaked in surprised and Chloe gasped. It was already fascinating that Stacie could see and hear Beca, but the fact that she could also touch her? Chloe was astonished.

"Okay…" Aubrey said, gaining everyone's attention. "That looked weird."

Stacie quirked a brow, "What?"

"Well, for me, it looked like you were just hugging air," Aubrey explained.

Stacie put her hands on her hips and smirked, "Do _you_ want to hug Beca?"

The dumbfounded look Aubrey suddenly expressed on her face was priceless. "What?!" she yelped, "No!"

Beca glared at Stacie, "No!"

But Stacie wasn't listening, "Oh, come on." She walked over to Aubrey and grabbed her hands. Despite the blonde's resistance, Stacie pulled her up from the bed and pushed her towards Beca.

"Stacie, stop it," Aubrey protested, but Stacie only giggled. "I don't want to hug her."

Beca looked at Chloe with wide, terrified eyes, but the redhead was laughing along with Stacie.

"I don't wanna hug her either," Beca argued.

Aubrey tensed when Stacie stopped her in front of Beca. She tried pushing back against the tall brunette, but Stacie wasn't letting up.

"Come on," Stacie said, keeping her hands on Aubrey's shoulders as she moved to stand next to her. "You'll like it. I promise."

Aubrey couldn't see the way Beca was trying to back away from her too, but Chloe was just as amused as Stacie and stood behind Beca to stop her from stepping back any further.

When Beca felt Chloe on her back, she quickly spun around to look at her, "Seriously?"

Chloe smiled, "Hey, it could be good for you."

Beca tittered, "Yeah right."

Aubrey didn't hear Beca, but she could tell from Chloe's response that Beca wasn't enjoying their insistence either.

"See?" Aubrey said, glaring at Stacie. "Beca doesn't want to hug me either."

"Yes she does," Stacie lied.

"No I don't!" Beca shouted.

Stacie and Chloe started laughing, but Aubrey and Beca still weren't finding the situation amusing.

"Okay, okay," Stacie said, finally giving in and dropping her hands from Aubrey's shoulders. "You guys don't have to hug if you don't want to."

Aubrey sighed, "Thank you."

"Jerks," Beca huffed, earning a playful nudge from Chloe.

"Hey," she said, "be nice."

Beca just rolled her eyes.

"Look, in all seriousness," Stacie said, looking at Beca, "I'm really sorry about what happened to you."

Beca shrugged, "It's alright. It is what it is."

Chloe had heard that response come from Beca before, but it still made her frown. "I wish you would stop saying that."

"Why?" Beca asked. "It's the truth, Chloe." Chloe didn't hide her disdain for her comment, so Beca continued, "But you know what? It's okay."

Chloe furrowed her brow, "How is this okay?"

"Because," Beca said, reaching to take Chloe's hand again, "if this hadn't happened to me, then…" She looked down at their joined hands, her thumb caressing Chloe's warm skin. "Then maybe we never would have met." A surprised expression appeared on Chloe's face and her eyes started to gloss. "Okay, I know it's crazy to justify my death because of the chance it gave me to meet you, but honestly," Beca shrugged, "if being stuck here means getting to spend time with you, then… it's worth it."

Chloe's mouth hung open at the confession. Sure, Chloe could understand that Beca was trying to be… romantic? But, wow. There was no way Chloe could accept that getting a chance to know her was worth being dead. That was just crazy.

But before Chloe could respond, a girly squeal from Stacie broke out into the atmosphere.

"Aww!" Stacie smiled, her hands clasped and pressing into her chin.

"What?" Aubrey asked, again. Poor thing. Her lack of ability to see or hear Beca left her completely out of the loop.

Stacie sighed, "I'll tell you later."

The room was only silent again for a short moment, before Beca decided to say something again.

"Yeah, so," Beca said, "I don't want to be a party pooper or anything, but I guess it's safe to assume that I'm never going to leave this house then, right?"

"Hey, don't jump to any conclusions just yet," Chloe said, bringing their joined hands up. "I'm not going to stop looking for you," she smiled. "I promise."

* * *

And she didn't.

A month went by and Chloe held on to that promise every single day. Wether it was reading books, searching the internet or making phone calls, Chloe was determined to find Beca's body.

At one point, Chloe had made the brave decision to visit the local police station to see if she could find any information on Beca's "runaway" case. Unfortunately the cops seemed to have only known about the same amount that was written in the new paper articles, which wasn't much, so then Chloe tried to find out the whereabouts of Beca's old foster parents. But Chloe was a stranger and that information was confidential, so the trip pretty much left her right where she started.

Chloe had reached another dead end, but despite the lack of hope, Chloe was determined to keep trying.

* * *

On a Monday morning, Chloe was making her way to her first period class. Her thoughts were being completely consumed by Beca, again, which wasn't ideal, but at the same time, how could she possibly think about anything else?

Without Beca's body, there was no way she could leave that house. The only people who knew where it was were the murderers themselves, and God only knew where they were.

Chloe huffed in frustration as she thought about it. If only she knew someone who might know where Beca's old foster parents were. Or at least someone who could give Chloe more information about Beca that could at least point her in the right direction.

If only there was someone–

"Ow!" Chloe yelped, so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed the student standing in front of her.

"What the hell?" Jesse said, turning around to see who had run into him and glaring at Chloe when he recognized her. "Seriously? You again? What's your problem?"

"Shit, I'm sorry!" Chloe said, rubbing her throbbing shoulder. "I didn't mean to–" And then her suddenly eyes widened. "Oh my gosh…" she said. "You're Jesse Swanson."

Jesse quirked a brow, "Uh, yeah? Who are you? And why do you keep running into me all the time?"

"You're Jesse Swanson!" Chloe said again, smiling widely. She couldn't believe this twist of fate. He was Beca's best friend! How did she not think of him before?

Jesse flinched backwards and furrowed his brow, clearly confused about Chloe's sudden excitement. "Yeah, we've established that already. What the hell is wrong with you?" The starting bell rang, causing him and Chloe to look up at the sound. "Fuck," Jesse said, looking back down at Chloe. "Now I'm late for class. Thanks."

His attitude wasn't appreciated by Chloe, but the possibility of him having useful information about Beca made his rudeness tolerable… for now.

Jesse moved to step around Chloe, but she wasn't finished with him. "Wait," she said, bringing her hands up to stop him. "I need your help."

"What?" Jesse said. "I don't even know you. Why would I help you with anything?"

Chloe knew it wasn't going to be easy to gain his trust and will to help, but he also had a point. They didn't know each other at all. The only way he knew Chloe was as the girl that continuously ran into him. Literally.

But perhaps there was **one** thing Chloe could say that would capture his attention.

Maybe.

"Because I believe you."

Chloe watched as Jesse's expression changed. His sharp, angry features slowly softened to a gentle, surprised, yet confused, look.

"Wait…" Jesse said, after a moment. "What?"

Chloe took a cautious step forward, "I believe what you think happened to Beca."

That definitely got his attention.

Jesse's eyes widened and his jaw slacked. Chloe knew a comment like that would get to him, but she didn't think his stunned reaction would turn back into an angered one just as quickly.

Jesse focused on Chloe and took a step forward, "What the hell do **you** know about Beca?"

Chloe gulped, "Listen to me, Jesse," she said. She had to quickly dissolve the situation before she accidentally pissed him off even more. "If I try to explain everything to you now, you'll just think I'm crazy." Jesse continued to stare at her, like he was trying to read her. "But I **know** Beca didn't just run away."

Jesse's features started to soften again, much to Chloe's relief. It seemed to finally get through to him that Chloe wasn't trying to offend or make fun of him. She was serious.

"Here," Chloe said, bringing her bag around to pull out a pen and paper. She tore a corner off of the page and scribbled her number onto it. "Let me know if you're willing to stop by Beca's old house again." Jesse eyed the paper hesitantly as she held it out to him. "I have choir practice after school today, but maybe you can meet me at the house after." Jesse still seemed unsure about trusting her, so Chloe tried one more time. "Please?" She said, gently pushing the paper closer to him. "I just want to talk to you about her."

Chloe tried to pull off her best puppy dog eyes and was pleased when they seemed to have worked. Jesse slowly reached for the slip, stopping only for a short moment before ultimately taking it and glancing at it before slipping it into his pocket.

He stared at Chloe again, "This better not be a prank or something," he said.

"It's not," Chloe assured him. "I swear."

A teacher who had been wandering the halls spotted Chloe and Jesse and stopped.

"Hey," the older woman said. "Where are you two supposed to be?"

Chloe jumped at her voice, "Sorry!" she said. "We're going to class now."

The woman stuck her nose up for a moment as she regarded them. "You're lucky I'm in a good mood today," she said, restarting her previous stroll. "Get to class."

Chloe nodded, "We're going!" Once the woman disappeared around the corner, Chloe looked at Jesse. "Sorry about that," she said.

Jesse shrugged, "Whatever," he said. "I don't care."

Chloe's brow furrowed slightly at his bitter response. Aubrey said he used to be such a nice kid. It made Chloe wondered what he had been like before.

"Okay, so, uh–" Chloe wasn't exactly sure how to end the conversation, but, "See you later?"

Jesse didn't answer her at first. For a moment he just looked at her, like he was studying her. It felt like an eternity before he finally spoke again.

"Yeah," he said, easing Chloe's nerves. "I guess we'll see."

It wasn't a total yes, but it also wasn't a no.

Chloe could live with that.

"Okay," Chloe smiled, giving him a small wave as she started to walk backwards. "Bye."

Jesse didn't smile, but he was polite, "Bye."

* * *

Choir practice ended and Chloe still hadn't received a single message from Jesse. It worried her. What if he decided that he didn't want to go? Sure Chloe could understand why he wouldn't, but still. She needed him.

Chloe had told Aubrey and Stacie about her encounter with Jesse, and as they made their way to Aubrey's car, Chloe wouldn't stop looking at her phone.

"Still no text, huh?" Stacie asked, peeking over Chloe's shoulder as they walked.

Chloe sighed, "No," she said.

"Sorry," Stacie pouted.

"It's fine," Chloe said with a small shake of her head. She gave up on her anticipation and stuck her phone back into her pocket. "I guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up."

"Hey, don't say that," Aubrey frowned, clicking the 'unlock' button on her car key and opening the driver's seat door. "It's okay to have hope."

"Yeah, I guess, but," Chloe opened one of the back doors and ducked into her seat, "Jesse doesn't seem like the easiest guy to work with." She shrugged, "I just thought maybe going to the house was something he would be interested in doing."

As the girls clicked their seatbelts in and Aubrey started the car, the sound of a text coming in from Chloe's phone rang in the air. All three of them reacted to the sound simultaneously, and jerked their gazes down to Chloe's pocket.

Stacie glanced at Chloe, "You think it's him?"

Chloe's eyes were wide, "God, I hope so." She took out her phone and read the screen, a smile slowly splitting her face as she read the unknown number. "I think it is."

"Open it!" Aubrey suddenly snapped, startling Chloe and almost making her drop her phone.

"Okay, okay!" Chloe sucked in a deep breath and held it as she opened the message:

 **Jesse:** So what time are we meeting there?

"Holy shit," Chloe said. "He's coming over!"

"That's great!" Aubrey said.

"Yeah, maybe he can help you find Beca's body!" Stacie added smiling almost as widely as Chloe.

"Yeah," Chloe breathed, "maybe."

* * *

Chloe knew she was going to need a pretty good excuse as to why Jesse, a guy Chloe had never mentioned before, would be coming over. She made sure to think of one during the car ride home, and when she arrived, she was not surprised by her mother's reaction.

"And you have to work together in the basement, why?" Claire asked, skeptically.

Chloe was prepared for this, "Well our project is about spiders," she lied. "We have a lot of them in our basement, so I thought it would be cool if Jesse and I took pictures of them and figured out which species they are."

It was a great excuse, Chloe had to admit, but Claire narrowed her eyes for a moment as she thought about it.

 _Please believe me, please believe me,_ Chloe thought.

"Alright," Claire said.

 _Thank, God!_

"But the door stays open." Claire turned to walk towards the living room and Chloe snorted a laugh.

"It will, mom."

If only she knew.

* * *

After getting the 'okay' from her mother, Chloe still had enough time before Jesse arrived to give Beca a heads up.

She went down into the basement and smiled when she spotted Beca casually sitting on one of the plastic tubs that was pushed against one of the walls.

"Hey, stranger," Chloe grinned, walking over to greet the brunette.

Beca hopped off of the tub with ease and accepted the hug that she already knew was coming. "Hey," she said, smiling. "How was your day?"

"It was good," Chloe nodded, still holding Beca's hands even after they separated. She wasn't sure how she should bring up the topic of Jesse, but she figured just saying it like she was ripping off a band-aid would probably be her best bet. "So, um, listen…" Chloe said, clearing her throat. "I've gotta talk to you about something."

Beca's brow furrowed, "Uh oh," she said. "That's your 'serious' voice."

"Yeah," Chloe chuckled. "Sorry. It's just, uh… It's kind of a serious topic."

"Oh," Beca said, not expecting that response. "Okay. What's up?"

"So," Chloe started, feeling herself getting anxious, "I invited someone over today." She paused, waiting to see Beca's reaction, but Beca didn't seem phased by it.

"Um, okay?" she said, quirking a curious brow.

Chloe's throat felt like it was closing in on itself, "You," she muttered. "You know this person. Really well actually." She corrected herself, "Or at least you did when you were–" Chloe hesitated. It still wasn't a comfortable thing for her to say, "You know…"

Beca's eyes flicked back and forth between Chloe's, "Chloe…" she said, anxiously. "Who did you invite over?"

* * *

 **Author's 2nd Note: Oh my gosh, you guys. The next chapter is THE FINAL CHAPTER!**

 **AHH! Who's ready?**

 **Side note, in case it's still on your mind, there is a reason I made Beca's last name Samuels. But you're gonna have to wait until the next chapter to figure out why. ;)**

 **Follow me on Tumblr: not-so-average-fangirl**

 **Stay tuned for the finale!**


	8. Another Life

**Author's 1st Note: It's here! The moment you've all been waiting for!**

 **Thank you all so much for taking this journey with me. I appreciate all of your comments and support. It really means a lot to me.**

 **Hope you guys enjoy the conclusion!**

 **Trigger Warning: This chapter describes a small graphic moment of violence, so I apologize if that offends or triggers anyone.**

* * *

"You invited, Jesse?!" Beca yelped, taking a step back as she processed the news.

Chloe instantly grew worried that Jesse's presence would be upsetting for Beca, so she tried to fix the situation.

"I'm sorry!" she said. "I can tell him not to come. He doesn't have to come if you don't want him to."

"No!" Beca suddenly said, startling Chloe. "Sorry, no. It's fine, I just–" Beca paused. She shook her head as a smile appeared on her lips and Chloe relaxed at the sight of it. "I haven't seen him in so long," Beca said. "I… I've missed him."

Chloe's heart swelled at that. Sure she wasn't in the _exact_ same position as Beca, but she could relate to what she was feeling. Chloe had left her best friends back at her old school and missed them dearly every single day.

Beca's eyes suddenly widened, then, and she looked at Chloe, "You think he'll be able to see me?"

"Oh," Chloe hadn't thought about that. "I don't know. Maybe?" She shrugged, "Stacie was able to see you."

"Yeah," Beca said, her body suddenly deflating, "but Aubrey wasn't," she pointed out. "Maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up."

Chloe placed a comforting hand on Beca's back. It had already been a long shot that Stacie was able to see Beca. The odds of Jesse seeing her too were probably slim to none. Chloe didn't want Beca to get disappointed, so maybe it _was_ best if she didn't get her hopes up.

"Well, I haven't told him about you being here," Chloe said. "Maybe you should stay in the other room when he comes." Beca furrowed her brow, so Chloe continued. "At least until I explain everything and how I'm able to see you." Chloe snickered, "I don't want him to think I'm crazy right off the bat."

Beca grinned, "But you **are** crazy."

Chloe gasped, "Hey!" she said, smacking Beca's arm, playfully. "I am **not!"**

"I mean," Beca shrugged, "you _are_ currently talking to a ghost right now, so…" She smirked at Chloe and the redhead narrowed her eyes at her.

"That is so not fair," she said.

Beca laughed, "Yeah, okay," she said. "I guess that's not fair."

They continued their laughter for a moment, until Chloe's phone went off and they looked at each other with equally stunned expressions.

"Oh, shit," Beca said, her hands nervously clenching. "Is he here?"

Chloe took out her phone and unlocked it to read the text message. She looked back up at Beca and nodded.

"Yup."

"Okay," Beca said, suddenly appearing nervous. "Okay, I guess I'll just, uh–" Beca started to step backwards, "I guess I'll just… wait in here."

Chloe smiled at her, "Okay." She turned to make her way back up the stairs and replied to Jesse's message, telling him to meet her at the front door.

When Chloe opened it, she was surprised to find Jesse looking stunned and confused.

"Wait," he said, "you _live_ here?"

Now Chloe was confused, "Uh, yeah," she said. "You didn't know that?" Jesse shook his head, "Oh." Chloe furrowed her brow, "Wait… How did you think we were going to get in if I didn't live here?"

Jesse shrugged, "I don't know," he said. "This house has been empty for a long time. I thought we would break in or something."

Chloe couldn't help but laugh, though after enjoying the short, humorous moment, Chloe reopened her eyes and realized Jesse was just staring at her with a quirked brow.

"Wait," Chloe said, "you're serious?"

"Well, yeah," Jesse said. "What?" he asked, a small grin curving on his lips. "A goodie-two-shoes like you never break into a house before?"

Chloe furrowed her brow. Of course the obvious answer was no, she hadn't. Chloe simply wasn't the 'breaking-into-houses' type. But with that being said, it was none of his beeswax anyway.

"I'm not a goodie-two-shoes," Chloe said, almost embarrassed by the pout she involuntarily put out.

Jesse snickered, "Mhmm," and moved around Chloe to step inside the house.

"Come on in," Chloe muttered, closing the door behind her. She watched as Jesse took leisure steps forward, his head raised as he gradually took the surroundings in.

"It's been a while since I've been in here." He stopped walking, "Looks different."

It hadn't occurred to Chloe that the last time Jesse was in this house could have been significant. After all, he and Beca had been best friends. They had probably spent a lot of time together.

"Yeah," Chloe said, awkwardly. She wasn't sure what she _should_ say, but, "I'm, uh…" She stepped closer behind him and lowered her voice, "I'm really sorry about what happened to Beca."

His head jerked to the side to look at her, but before he could say anything, Chloe's mom suddenly entered the vestibule.

"Hi," Claire smiled, widely. "You must be Jesse." She extended her hand out towards him, "I'm Claire. Chloe's mom."

Jesse returned a small smile and shook her hand, "Nice to meet you."

Chloe was glad Jesse was polite to her mother. She would have had to kick his ass if he would have acted otherwise.

"Okay, well, we're gonna go get started on our project now," Chloe said, pushing Jesse forward towards the basement door.

Claire scoffed, "You never let me talk to your friends," she whined.

* * *

"Dude, get off of me," Jesse said, shrugging Chloe's hands off of his shoulders.

Chloe instantly retracted them, "Sorry," she said. She had guided Jesse down the basement stairs, trying to escape her mother and had forgotten to remove her hands from him once they had made it to the bottom.

"Alright, you got me here," Jesse said. "Now tell me what you know about Beca."

Yikes. This was not going to be an easy conversation.

How was Chloe supposed to explain to Jesse that his "conspiracy" about Beca was not only true, but that Beca was in fact dead, turned into a ghost, and is in some kind of relationship with Chloe…

Okay… well maybe Chloe was just going to leave that last part out, but still! Either way, her explanation was not going to make a lot of sense.

Chloe cleared her throat, "You might want to sit down for this," she said, gesturing towards the stack of plastic tubs sitting against the opposite wall.

Jesse turned to look at the containers and then back at Chloe with a quirked brow, "Uh, okay." He walked over to the tubs and sat down, crossing his arms as he looked at Chloe with anticipation. "Alright," he said, "I'm all ears."

Chloe blew out some air, _Just get it out quick. Like a bandaid._

Chloe started the story from the beginning, choosing her words carefully and making sure she wasn't as animated about it as she had been when she recounted the same tale to Aubrey and Stacie. Chloe didn't wasn't to say anything wrong, and the last thing she wanted to do was offend Jesse in anyway.

When Chloe finished, she stood there nervously and waited for Jesse's response. So far, he had proven to be an unpredictable guy, and Chloe would be lying if she said she wasn't a little frightened of his potential reaction.

A handful of silent minutes passed, but Chloe couldn't find the courage to be the first one to speak. She figured it was probably best to leave that up to him.

After sitting still and simply staring at Chloe with a blank expression, Jesse finally moved and slowly sat forward. He brought his hands up and sighed as he ran them over his face. When he brought them back down, Jesse was glaring up at Chloe and she was taken aback when she realized that his eyes were glossing.

Jesse quickly stood up and Chloe gulped, "I knew this would be a waste of my time," he said.

Chloe's brow curved and she opened her mouth to speak, but Jesse shook his head and made his way to the stairs.

"Jesse, wait!" Chloe cried, quickly following after him. "I'm telling you the truth!" She could see him shake his head again as he kept walking. "Jesse!"

"Stop following me!" Jesse snapped, spinning around to glare at Chloe, angrily. "What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing!" Chloe said. "Jesse, please listen to me. I'm telling you the truth." There was no change in his expression, but Chloe continued to plead with him. "Beca's here. She is. She's–"

"I'm right here."

Chloe reacted to the familiar voice and turned to find Beca standing timidly under the door frame of the other room.

"Beca?" Jesse quietly said, surprising Chloe, who turned back around to find him staring at Beca with wide eyes.

Beca was stunned too, "Y-You can see me?"

Jesse didn't answer. Instead, he gradually moved forward, taking cautious steps as he approached her. "Beca?" he asked, again, his flooded eyes on the brink of over flowing. "Is the really you?"

Beca stepped forward, too, stopping only when they were about a foot away from each other.

"Hi, Jesse."

Jesse did something then. Something Chloe had never seen him do before.

He cried.

Jesse pulled Beca in and held her for a while. It was almost as if he were afraid that if he let go, he would never see her again.

It was a touching moment, and as Chloe watched, she could feel tears of her own welling up at the brim of her eyes.

When they finally separated, tears were still falling from Jesse's eyes, but he was smiling, "I can't believe it's really you," he said. "And you've been right here, all this time." He shook his head, "I'm sorry I never came to see you."

Beca sniffed a small laugh, "Jess, you didn't even know I was here."

"I know, but–" Jesse shrugged, "I always had this feeling that you didn't really run away," he said. "I knew you wouldn't do something like that." Jesse looked down, "When you disappeared, I tried to tell people that something was wrong, but–" He shook his head, "No one believed me."

Beca's brow furrowed and she ran a hand up and down his arm, "I'm sorry," she said.

Jesse looked back up at her, "No, **I'm** sorry," he said, and smiled. "It's so good to see you again."

Beca smiled back, "It's good to see you too," she said. "I've missed you."

Chloe watched silently, amazed and overwhelmed with joy by the fact that Jesse was able to see Beca.

It was nice to see them reunited.

* * *

An hour and a half later and it was almost like no time had passed between Beca and Jesse. They were joking and laughing, and Chloe could tell that this was something that they both needed. It was healing.

The fun was unfortunately interrupted, however, by the sound of Jesse's phone ringing. He pulled the device out of his pocket and sighed when he read the name displayed on the screen.

"Sorry," he said, standing up from his seat on the plastic container. "It's my mom." Jesse walked over to the other side of the basement to answer the phone, so Chloe took the opportunity to sit down next to Beca.

They both watched Jesse take his phone call, silently, until Beca spoke up.

"Thank you," she said, placing a hand on Chloe's knee.

Chloe smiled, "You don't have to thank me."

"Yeah," Beca said. "Yeah I do."

Jesse returned shortly after with a disappointed expression written all over his face.

"What's wrong?" Beca asked.

"She wants me home," he said. "I've gotta go."

"Oh…"

Jesse smiled, softly, "I don't wanna leave yet."

"It's okay, dude," Beca said, stepping closer to him with a small smile. "Maybe you can stop by again?" They both looked to Chloe, and the redhead didn't hesitate to nod with a wide grin on her face.

Jesse could visit as many times as he wanted if it made Beca happy.

"Thanks, Chloe," Beca said.

Chloe nodded again, "Of course."

"Well, um," Jesse cleared his throat, "I should, uh, probably get going."

"Yeah," Beca said, gently.

"But, hey," Jesse said, looking at both Beca and Chloe, "if you guys need anything, you let me know."

This reminded Chloe, "Well, actually," she said, looking at Beca, "we were kind of hoping that," she began to fiddle nervously with her fingers, "maybe you had an idea about… where Beca's body is."

Jesse furrowed his brow and looked at Beca, "I'm sorry, Bec." His expression was one of pure sadness and he shook his head, "I have no idea where you could be."

"Well," Chloe said, still hoping from some kind of help, "do you know there her foster parents moved to?"

Jesse thought for a moment, but ultimately shook his head again, "No. I'm sorry."

His answer was deflating for all of them. Chloe had desperately hoped that Jesse would be able to help her investigation in _some_ kind of way. But despite inviting the one person who was closest to Beca when she was alive, Chloe was still left right where she began.

Nowhere.

"Hey," Beca said quietly, "it's okay, Jesse."

Jesse shook his head, a little more aggressively this time, "No, it's not! I wanna help you!"

Chloe bit down on her bottom lip as his frustrated anger made itself known, but Beca didn't seem phased by it. Instead, she took a step forward and gently placed her hands on Jesse's shoulders.

"Dude," Beca said, "it's okay. It's not your fault."

Jesse had his head down and muttered a quiet, "What if it was?"

Beca furrowed her brow, "What?"

"I knew they weren't good parents," Jesse said, shaking his head. "They were always so mean to you and I…" His eyes squeezed shut, "I did **nothing** about it!"

"Jesse…" Beca said, pulling him forward and hugging him.

When they separated, Jesse wiped away tears with a sniffle.

"Look at you," Beca said, smiling. "You big sap."

Jesse sniffed a laugh, "Shut up," he said, playfully nudging her.

Beca took a step back, "Jesse, listen to me," she said. "There are so many things that I wish were different. I wish I could go back and change what happened to me." She shrugged, "But I can't change _anything_ … I'm dead." Her words, though true, made both Jesse and Chloe cringe. "There's nothing we can do to change that," she continued. "It is what it is." Beca's voice became more firm as she finished, "And it's not _anyone's_ fault except for the assholes who did this to me." She stared at him, "Okay?"

Jesse seemed to have been taken aback by her speech. Chloe knew she was.

After taking a moment to soak it in, Jesse finally got the message and nodded.

"Okay," he said. "You're right."

"I know I am," Beca said, smirking, earning grins from both Jesse and Chloe. "Alright," she said, hitting his shoulder. "I think you should get going before your mom blows up your phone with worried text messages." The two of them laughed, "Does she still do that?"

Jesse nodded, "Oh, yeah she does."

Beca shook her head, "I guess some things never change."

"You haven't," Jesse smiled.

Beca's eyes narrowed, "Sap."

Jesse rolled his eyes and chuckled, "Okay, I'm leaving now." He turned to head for the stairs and Beca called after him.

"You better come back to visit me soon!"

Jesse laughed, "I will. I promise!"

Chloe was smiling too and moved to walk behind Jesse. She stopped when Jesse suddenly paused on the steps.

"Actually, can I leave through the backyard?" Jesse asked. "I left my bike there since I thought we were going to break in."

Beca burst out in laughter, "You thought you were gonna do, _what?"_

"What?" Jesse asked, innocently. "I didn't know she lived here."

Beca just continued to laugh and face palmed herself as she shook her head.

Chloe was laughing too, "Yes, you can leave through the back," she said.

They changed direction and, instead, made their way to the basement cellar door. Chloe needed Jesse's help to unlock the latch, finding it difficult to move with the bit of rust that caked onto it in the last year.

When they finally got it open, Jesse stopped on the second step and turned to smile at Beca one more time.

"Bye, Beca," he said.

Beca waved at him, "See ya around, Jess."

With one final nod, Jesse continued his way up the short set of steps.

Chloe looked at Beca, "I'll be right back," she said, following behind Jesse.

The two of them walked in a comfortable silence as Jesse led them to a set of rose bushes where he had stashed his bike. He struggled to get it out and startled Chloe when he yelped unexpectedly.

"Ow!" Jesse cried, frantically waving his hand around before glaring at his thumb. "Fucker."

"You okay?" Chloe asked. "What happened?"

"I pricked my thumb," he said. Jesse sucked on his wound for a moment before returning his attention to his bicycle.

Chloe tried not to laugh, "Sorry."

Once Jesse finally succeeded in removing his bike, he and Chloe walked towards the front of the house until he stopped them just before they rounded the corner.

"Hey, um…" Jesse said, his eyes darting around before finally landing on Chloe's. "Thank you… f-for everything."

Chloe smiled. It was nice to hear that from him.

"You're welcome," she said.

"No, seriously," Jesse said, leaning on his bike. "I didn't know if I was ever going to see Beca again. You know, everyone thought she just ran away and left everything behind…" He paused, "Including me."

Chloe could tell it was a tough topic for him to talk about. She couldn't even imagine how hurt he must have felt when the world was telling him that his best friend left him behind without a single word.

No wonder he had turned into such an angry person.

"But thanks to you," Jesse continued, "I got to see her again." He shrugged, "Even if it's not exactly the same way I _used_ to see her." He smiled, "So thank you for that. And… I'm sorry I was mean to you before."

Chloe chuckled, "It's okay," she said. "I understand."

Jesse nodded and swung his leg over his bike to mount it, but just as his foot came to rest on the pedal, it stopped and dropped back down onto the ground.

"Those are new," he said, analyzing the patch of purple lilies with a furrowed brow.

"Oh, the flowers?" Chloe asked, walking up to stand next to them. "Yeah, Aubrey told me that Beca's foster mom had planted them after she ' _ran away'."_ Chloe used air quotes for that last part, knowing damn well that Beca hadn't run away at all.

"What?" Jesse said, "Are you serious?"

Chloe shrugged, "That's what Aubrey told me." Jesse still looked confused, "Why? What's wrong?"

"That just doesn't make sense," he said, shaking his head. "Beca's mom **_hated_** gardening." He looked at Chloe, "And if they murdered Beca, why would she plant flowers for her?"

Chloe's eyes suddenly went wide, "Oh my God."

* * *

Chloe couldn't handle being present for the excavation process of Beca's body. Instead, she spent the time locked in her room holding Beca's hand while the FBI and their forensic teams did their work.

It didn't happen over night, but after Chloe, Jesse, Stacie and Aubrey visited the local police station and put together a good enough argument to catch the attention of their detectives, Beca's case had been reopened and a proper investigation had begun.

Once Beca's body was found, an examination of her remains confirmed that her foster parents had indeed murdered her. The FBI eventually located the guilty party and discovered that they had fled to a different state. A warrant for their arrest was issued and once they were found, they were arrested on the spot.

When Beca's ex-foster parents were taken into custody, they accepted that they had been caught and didn't bother lying about what they did any longer. They were interrogated and confessed to their crimes, explaining, in detail, what had happened after Beca fell down the stairs.

Panic had immediately struck them when Beca didn't moved and a pool of blood had begun to collect under her head. Her foster mom instructed her husband to check for a pulse, and after hesitating for a moment, he did just that, and claimed that he couldn't find one.

The couple then spent hours on trying to figure out what to do with Beca, carelessly leaving her helpless body at the bottom of the steps the entire time.

After devising a plan, the monstrous duo waited until it was dark outside and worked together to dig up Beca's grave to put her in it.

Apparently, according to Beca's ex-foster father, his wife wanted to be sure that Beca was "really" dead and stabbed her through the heart with a kitchen knife before they finished burying her.

When they completed their horrid act, the couple went back to clean up the crime scene, began packing their things in preparation to flee the place.

Chloe had to admit it was nice watching the evening news and finding out that they were sentenced to life in prison.

Justice had finally been served.

* * *

It didn't happen over night, but it certainly felt like it had. Beca's case had been solved, her murders were in jail and all that was left was for her to finally move on.

Which was something Chloe was selfishly not looking forward to.

She and Beca had grown so close over the last couple of months, to the point where Chloe was finding it difficult to let her go.

Even though she knew it was the right thing to do.

When Beca's final day on Earth came, she made sure to let Chloe know as soon as possible.

It was a Saturday morning. Chloe would never forget it.

"Chloe?" Beca whispered, gradually waking the redhead up from her slumber. "Chloe."

Chloe opened her eyes and smiled when she was met with Beca's face.

"Hey," she said, stretching her neck and shoulders as she came through.

"Sleep okay?" Beca asked, a small curve of a smile apparent on her lips.

Chloe nodded, "Mhm." She noticed the strange way Beca was looking at her. She was smiling, but her brow was furrowed, like she was sad about something. "What's wrong, Beca?" Chloe asked. Beca looked down at the ground and Chloe immediately felt her stomach drop. "Beca…"

When Beca finally looked up at her, her dark blue eyes were glistening, "It's time for me to go."

Chloe sat up in her bed, "Oh…" She knew this day would come, but despite having an early warning, it was till just as hard to accept. "How long?" Chloe still didn't know much about the paranormal world and wasn't sure how Beca's crossing was supposed to go.

But the way Beca looked at her said it all, and Chloe didn't bother to hold back her tears.

"Now?" She asked, already knowing the answer. Beca slowly nodded. "No…" Chloe reached forward and held onto Beca, a part of her hoping that if she held her tight enough, then she wouldn't have to leave.

But Chloe knew that despite her best efforts, it ultimately wasn't going to work.

"I know this is selfish of me to say, but–" Chloe shook her head against Beca's neck, "I don't want to let you go." She separated them from their embrace but her hands still kept Beca close, "I love you."

A tear fell from Beca's eye and her brow furrowed as she smiled, "I love you too, Chloe."

Chloe could feel her chest rising and falling at a heightened pace as her eyes flicked down to Beca's lips, an overwhelming urge suddenly washing over her.

Without hesitation, Chloe slipped a hand around the back of Beca's neck and gently brought her forward. Their faces came closer and there was a surge of energy that jolted between them when their lips touched.

The sensation only urged them on.

Their lips crashed together in desperation and they grasp onto each other a little harder. This was something Chloe had been longing for for months, and if it was going to be the last moment she had with Beca, then Chloe wanted to make sure it was memorable.

Was it weird making out with a ghost? Probably. Could Chloe explain what it felt like? Never. But the way Beca's surprisingly soft lips moved against hers felt so good and so right, that Chloe couldn't have cared less.

The kiss wasn't long enough, but at least Chloe was able to do it before Beca left her forever.

Chloe brought Beca in for another hug, "I'm going to miss you so much," she said.

"I'm going to miss you, too."

Another tear fell from Chloe's eye as the weight against her gradually faded away. She knew Beca was gone, but she didn't want to open her eyes. So, instead, Chloe curled up into a ball on her bed and cried for the rest of the morning.

* * *

As the years passed, Chloe had never forgotten about Beca. Her memory held a very special place in Chloe's heart. It wasn't an easy experience to go through, but with the help of her new friends, Chloe was eventually able to move on.

Chloe and her choir friends remained a tight knit group of girls and were all miraculously accepted into Barden University. It was a dream come true, and together, they ruled the acapella world there as the Barden Bellas.

Well, that is, until Aubrey vomited at one of their competitions, which sent them straight to the bottom of the food chain.

It was Chloe's Junior year, and they were desperate to find new, talented girls that would be willing to join their group and help them get back on top.

The activities fair that Barden held every new school year was the perfect place to start. Chloe and Aubrey ran their own little sign up stand with high hopes, but after an hour had gone by with no luck, the girls began to grow weary.

Chloe made a horse like sound with her lips as she huffed a frustrated sigh.

"Aca-scuse me?" Aubrey said, lightly hitting Chloe with her clip board. "You're not allowed to start moping." She looked down at the blank sheet on her board and took a deep breath through her nose, "Not yet, anyway. I have confidence that we will find some new, super hot girls, that will want to join us. Okay?" Chloe just glared at her. "Take the dramatics down a notch."

Chloe chewed on the inside of her cheek, "Okay," she said. She hoped Aubrey was right. Maybe, by some miracle, they would find at least **one** girl who could fit the bill and help them get back to their glory days.

Chloe was scanning the large moving crowd around them in search of a miracle and gasped loudly when her eyes landed on just that.

"Oh my God…"

A few feet away from their stand was a small, brunette girl, wandering around aimlessly. Chloe could feel her chest tighten, her brow furrowing and her eyes blurring with approaching tears as she processed what, or rather, **_who_** she was looking at.

Chloe would recognize her anywhere.

"Beca…"

Aubrey had been occupied with her own search on the other side of the stand, but could hear Chloe speak next to her.

"What did you say?" She asked, turning to look at her stunned best friend. "Chloe? What's wrong?"

"Aubrey, look!" Chloe said, grabbing the blonde's arm and pointing in the direction of the brunette. "Tell me you see her."

And to Aubrey's surprise, "Holy shit," she did.

Chloe's mind started to race, "I have to talk to her." Without thinking, Chloe decided to trust her instincts and bolted towards the girl.

"Chloe, wait!"

Chloe could hear Aubrey calling for her, but she couldn't stop her feet from moving forward.

Chloe bumped into numerous students as she desperately moved through the crowd, growing more frantic the closer she got to her. When Chloe was a few inches away, she couldn't hold herself back any longer.

"Beca!" The brunette immediately turned and Chloe stopped dead in her tracks. She knew that face and she knew those eyes. Chloe didn't think she would ever see them again, but, "Oh my God, it **_is_** you!" Chloe lunged forward and pulled the girl in for a tight hug. "God, I've missed you so much."

"Uhh…" Chloe could hear the girl speaking next to her ear, "Okay." Her body was tense against Chloe, and Chloe could sense that something was wrong.

Chloe took a step back, "What's wrong, Beca?" She looked the girl over. She certainly looked like Beca. Well, aside from the change in wardrobe. This girl wasn't wearing a brown hoodie or black converse. No, that was different, and she was also sporting a few ear piercings that Chloe hadn't noticed before.

Chloe's brow furrowed. Maybe this wasn't Beca.

"Do I know you?" The girl asked, clearly confused as she stared at Chloe. "How do you know my name?"

Okay, so her name was the same.

What the hell was going on?

"Do you–" Chloe shook her head, "Do you not remember me?" Beca's eyes focused on her but she shook her head. "You're Beca Samuels…" She had to be. Chloe could never forget her, "Right?"

Beca shook her head again, "Mmh, nope," she said. "My name's Beca Mitchell."

"Oh…" Chloe said, saddening when her hopes came crashing down. She was so _sure_ that this was her Beca. Everything about her physically was exactly the same. Even her voice was the same!

It was so strange.

But before Chloe could fall into complete depression, she looked back up at Beca and although the brunette still looked confused, a smile was curving at the corner of her lips.

"What?" Chloe asked, curious as to why this stranger was looking at her like that.

Beca shook her head, "I don't know," she said. "There's… something about you. Something… familiar."

"Really?" Chloe said, a small flame of hope reigniting inside of her.

Beca's eyes were still narrowed, but she was also still smiling and she slowly nodded, "Yeah," she said, and then she chuckled.

"What?" Chloe asked again, feeling the same spark in her heart that she felt all those years ago when she first saw Beca– well, **_her_** Beca– smile.

"I was just thinking that maybe…" Beca paused.

"Maybe, what?" Chloe asked.

Beca laughed again, this time it was accompanied by a shrug and a shake of her head, "Maybe we knew each other. You know, in another life, or something."

Chloe slowly grinned, "Yeah," she said. "Maybe we did."

* * *

 **The End**

* * *

 **Author's 2nd Note:** **Was that an ending anyone was expecting? x)**

 **If you would like to message me or follow any of my other work, you can find me on Tumblr at: not-so-average-fangirl**

 **I am already working on my next Bechloe fanfic called, "I Hate You." It will also be rated M, but for other reasons. ;)**

 **I would also like to wish everyone a Happy Pride Month! Hope everyone has been enjoying it. :)**

 **Take care, you guys!**

 **Thanks again!**


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